The Unexpected
by OpheliaMarie13
Summary: When her step-brother Peeta becomes engaged to a girl she barely knows... When she's chosen by a family friend to help SRG. Gale Hawthorne adjust to life after returning from war for the last time... Delly Cartwright has to expect the unexpected. Modern World AU. Rated M for language and war violence.
1. Chapter 1 One Cardboard Box

**Howdy. THG is my life and I've always wanted to write an Modern World AU, so this is it. I've written a Delta fic before, but I love Everlark too much so I needed a new pairing for this. I've always hated loose ends and I like to tie them up. Then Gally happened. There are only six other stories in existence labeled as Delly/Gale romance so I understand if this isn't popular. But I've fallen in love with this pairing. Because in the same way that Peeta is the dandelion to Katniss' fire, Delly is Gale's dandelion. Not sure if that makes sense to you, but I promise this will be good if you stick with me. I enjoy comments and constructive criticism but don't give me any crap. **

**This fic will be written in Delly's POV but I might switch it up if things get boring. This first chapter is slow, as first chapters are, but like I said stick with me and it'll get better. I will fit as many HG characters in here and there will be very little OCs. Along with Gally there will also be Everlark, Heffie, and possibly Foxato. Once in a while I might have song lyrics or some sort of quote to set the mood because I love it when other authors do that, but I also understand that many people just skip that part. Like most of you are skipping this long A/N. To those people: Screw you.**

**Okay then. Let's see how this goes...**

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Chapter 1- One Cardboard Box

I believe that we humans greatly underestimate the power of a cardboard box. There are thousands of them helping us every day and when we're finished with them, how do we repay them? By breaking them down and recycling them. The medical equipment that helped your mother get through your birth was most likely delivered in a cardboard box. If you wanted to be technical you could even say that your parents meeting was helped by a cardboard box. If they met at a restaurant, the plates and utensils meant cardboard boxes and bubble wrap. If they met at a library, all those books came in cardboard boxes. And after you were born the toys they bought you to help nurture your mind were brought in cardboard boxes. Perhaps you even played with the cardboard box instead of the toy. So in a way, our entire society might be the product of a simple brown cube.

These thoughts seep into my mind as I walk into the attic of my house. There are so many cardboard boxes up here all with different labels and shapes. Dusty or clean, old or new, they have stories locked inside. All I have to do is lift the lid, pull off the duct tape, find any crevice where I can look inside and find lost treasures. I walk over to one named "DELLY BEFORE 10". The lid comes off easily and I can pull out old pictures- well not _that_ old- turning yellow at the corners from at least six years of being banished. Banished for holding memories of my parents' fights and my brother whom I never really knew; The Dark Ages as my mother calls them. My dad most definitely wanted a son when he and my mother tried to have a baby. Instead, he got me. Four years later he tried again and go this wish. But he couldn't just give me away. Even if I was the black sheep my dad considered me to be. My mother protected her lion cub so he couldn't dispose of me, mentally or physically. So he took my brother and left. Getting rid of my mother, me, and keeping his perfect son all in one neat little package. One cardboard box.

I put the cover back on, sealing away chubby me, tiny Richard, and our now divorced parents. I move on to another box. A happier one. The one labeled "WEDDING PHOTOS". Not my parents. Not the marrige of Angelica and David Cartwright, but the small Las Vegas wedding of Angelica Cartwright and Christan Mellark. It was a small wedding, the party consisted of only six members, including the bride and groom. Only a flower girl doubling as a Maid of Honor, a ring bearer, and two Best Men. I was twelve at the time, Peeta fourteen. It was around the time I took on the nickname Delly, Christian gave it to me. Delly Cartwright. I liked it. It had a nice ring to it. Christian came up with it and his sons enforced it. Well, mostly Peeta because he was the one I saw the most during the time our parents dated. Peeta's two older brothers were never around as I grew up. Johnathan, the oldest, was 20 when I met him. He had a girlfriend and was in college. Asher, the middle child, was 18 and getting ready to go to a culinary school in France. Peeta was the youngest, a good-looking fourteen year old who I assumed would ignore me. Instead we connected. Our bedrooms were right next to each other and we shared a bathroom. Peeta was the first one to address the elephant in the room; _Tell me why your parents divorced and I'll tell you why mine did._ I take one last glimpse at picture of my mom in her 100$ wedding dress, the Mellarks in their semi-matching suits, and me in my 10$ flower-girl/Maid of Honor dress bought from Kohl's straight off the clearance rack. Giving a mother to motherless children, a father to a fatherless girl, and uniting two broken hearts in one simple marraige. One cardboard box.

I don't even bother folding the flaps back down. I know that they'll just pop back up again and I _really_ don't want to get any duct tape. The second-to-last box that I want to look at has "DELLY+PEETA" scrawled on the top. I open it up and find two siblings who aren't related but have the same look. The blonde hair, the pale skin, the blue eyes. Although my hair is curly and Peeta's falls in waves over his eyes- which are more of a cerulean while mine are sky blue- and there's a two year age gap between us, we could be twins. It was a question that came up often. Until he turned seventeen Peeta was always a few inches short and I was always one inch too tall. Before Peeta went to college we would take turns camping out in each others' bedrooms building forts out of pillows and sheets, even though we were too old to being doing that sort of thing. When we were younger Peeta would tell me fairytales his dad told him, his words seemed to bring characters to life. I could imagine Little Red Riding with scarlett blush walking past a rabbit hole with a young British blonde falling down, down, down. Even at twelve I was hypnotized by him. Peeta had the power to manipulate words and create stories. I would close my eyes and listen to his voice, only to wake up with our parents peeking into the tent to find us with our heads on each others' shoulders fast asleep. The fairytales couldn't last forever of course. On the night of Peeta's fifteenth birthday we camped out in his room and he told me a new story. Of a young boy who lived with his father, mother, and two older siblings running a local bakery. At first my eyes were wide at what seemed a happy story. But then when the boy burnt bread on accident while a young girl smiled at him through a window, his mother hit him. I listened to the story as it unfolded to the boy understanding that the bruises and cuts he saw on his brothers were not from biking or soccer or any of the other lies they'd told him before he became apart of the secret. One day, the boy's mother grew so angry with him she threw a chair down on him snapping his femur bone in half. I began to cry but Peeta continued the story. The boy's mother was sent to jail and later on had a restraining order on her sons and husband who later divorced her. But the young hero lost so much blood that he was given a new prostetic leg and a cane to walk with. At that point I looked up at Peeta as he pointed to the post that kept our tent up. I shifted my position and felt plastic underneath his pajama pants. Then I told Peeta it was my turn to tell a story. About a little girl named Delilah who had a father that ignored her. I knew the story didn't have as much courage and my storytelling skills weren't as good as Peeta's but he still cried at the thought of a father who told his own flesh and blood that he didn't love her. I promised Peeta a happy ending. Delilah's mother remarried the father from his story and they all lived happily ever after. THE END. One cardboard box.

"HIGH SCHOOL" is the title of my final brown square. The box's contents include pictures of Peeta and me on the beach, at the park, school plays, cooking club, all of our years as siblings. They mingled with other pictures of Peeta's friends who later became my friends. Clove, a short but fiesty brunette who met Peeta when they worked on stage crew in middle school. A godlike boy named Cato who knew Peeta through wrestling. His ex-girlfriend who weaved in and out of the group however and whenever she pleased, a blonde bombshell called Glimmer. Felicia, who went by the nickname Foxface, which she recived from her ginger locks, foxlike features, and keen intelligence. Mavel, who knew everything about surviving a zombie apocolypse and was one of the track and field stars. Thresh, a tall boy with a large frame who knew Cato and Peeta from wrestling team. Later on Thresh would introduce me to his little sister Rue, who would become my best friend. Everyone that knows me best inside. One cardboard box.

Four boxes, four stages of my life. Who knew you could learn so much about Delilah Lilly Cartwright in four cardboard boxes? My mind comes back to the world when I have to sneeze. _Why did I come up here in the first place? Oh right!_ I suddenly remember I had a reason to my search. I fumble through a few pictures until I find his Senior Yearbook. I clomp down the stairs flipping though it until I come to the section with all students whose surnames begin with E. _Katniss Everdeen._ A lovely girl with chocolate colored hair, olive flesh, and silver gray eyes. The girl who smiled at Peeta all those years ago causing him his first taste of abuse. The girl he would go on and on about during our "sleepovers". The girl who happened to choose the same university as him by luck. Then, at summer orentation, my dorky brother Peeta finally got the guts to ask her out. A simple three lettered word response would spark a three hour phone conversation between the two of us. He brought Katniss home for Christmas to meet us and I remembered seeing her at one of Marvel's track meets. Peeta told me she was also in archery club. When he came back for spring break I went ring shopping with him. At the end of May we got a screaming phone call that consisted of three words. "She said yes!" That was yesterday. Now, my last month of school will include tests and meeting my new in-laws. Summer will be wedding planning chaos. Semtember will mean the begining of my last high school year and sending off my brother and his new bride. I head into my room and pick up my iPhone.

"Rue? You'll never believe it..."


	2. Chapter 2 Romance

**Two chapters in one day? HECK YEAH! I haven't got much to say but I NEED to thank BelieveInDream for helping me get this story out of my mind and onto your screens! Also, to my best friend TayLullabyLove for letting me borrow the name Asher. Both of them are great writers and I recommend you check them out for your own health and safety! Hahaha! Seriously.**

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Chapter 2- Romance

I wake up at the first sound of music coming from my alarm clock. I turn on my phone to check for any texts, emails, updates, or posts. Yep, it's true; technology has ruined us. Emails from Peeta, Clove, and Foxface, a two new texts from Rue and Thresh, and an Instagram post from Glimmer. I grab my headphones and pick my teeth-brushing song for today. Hot n' Cold by Katy Perry; my singing goddess. I can't sing, so I just kind of shout with the toothbrush in my mouth while trying to keep in time with the music.

"You! Change your mind! Like a girl, changes clothes!" I shout. I continue with my morning routine of part singing, part dancing, part checking my phone, part brushing my teeth. I plan on reading the email from Peeta in Study Hall since his are usually _long_. Clove and Foxface confirm that they will be back in town for summer vacation. Clove adds that she's written a play and would like us to help her perform it as a summer project, also that she'll email me the part she's chosen for me. Rue's text simply reads, _tell peeta that i send him my congrats and id better be on the guest list!_ Thresh's is even shorter; _ur bro's getting married? __BACHLOR PARTY!_ As usual, Glimmer's new update is a cute outfit she bought and just HAD to post. Nice and short with plenty of cleavage to go around. Which is good, because the picture already has 155 likes within only 8 hrs of being posted. I roll my eyes and spit into the sink watching my saliva-toothpaste mixture wash away.

"And you! PMS, like a BEEEEEEEACH BALL! I don't know!" I say holding out the B in beach ball to see if my parents will yell that I "shouldn't be using that kind of langauge". I jump onto the carpet in my room. I open my closet and cover my eyes to pick my outfit. Purple plaid shirt with polka-dotted red skirt. I almost consider wearing the crazy color combo but then switch to torn and faded blue jeans with a rainbow belt. I grab my bookbag and slide down the banister. "Good-bye family of blood and marriage!" I shout before slamming the door and running to the bus stop.

I plop down in my usual spot next to Rue. She starts the ball rolling.

"So, do you think you'll be the Maid of Honor?"

"I don't think so." I say. "Katniss has a little sister, Primrose. They're really close. But I don't mind just being a bridesmaid."

"Katniss and Primrose." Rue says dreamily. "Where'd they get such cool names?"

"They're like you, named after flowers." There's an awkward pause as we try to figure out what to say next. "Did Clove tell you about her play?"

"Yeah. I knew that she did stage crew and played some minor roles in school and community stuff but I didn't know she wanted to write her own. And star in it. And direct it." Rue says. "Did she tell you what part you got?" I shake my head. "Me either. Glimmer said it has something to do with fairy tales."

"Cool." I say and we spend the rest of our bus ride in silence.

First hour math is easy, Pre-Calculus. Then Langauge Arts, fairly easy. Social Studies, which I hate, all those historical dates get mixed up in my brian. Lunch, which consists of a staring contest with Rue and finding out that the ground beef in her nachos, comes from a bag labeled "Mutton". Gross. It's times like these when I thank the Lord I'm a vegan. Science, Art, Cooking, and finally Study Hall. I sign the clipboard at the front desk saying that I took my study hall in the library so I don't get marked absent and take a seat. I whip out my iPhone and find Peeta's email.

_Hey there Delilah! How much screaming and crying happened after the big news? God, I wish I could tell you how happy I am. It's like... Well, I can't describe it to you. There's this feeling I can't name and there's something I have in common with Katniss that connects us. Maybe someday when you fall in love you'll know what I mean. Now then, I know you want details on how I "popped the question". _

_I'd just finished my studying/homework when Katniss called and asked if we could go out and do something to celebrate the fact that we'd been dating over 11 months. I told her yes of course and I figured out that this would be the right time to ask her. Then I started hyperventilating and trying to figure out where to take her and then how to ask THE QUESTION. I grabbed the ring and put it in my pocket before meeting her at her dorm. God she looked beautiful, she wore a simple blue dress and had her half-smile. We went to the coffee shop I took her to on our first date. We'd been there literally, HUNDREDS of times but I knew that this would have to be really special. We sat at our usual table and ordered the usual drinks and the night was so perfect but I wanted something different. Then Katniss said I seemed tense, I denied it and blamed it on being nervous about going home for summer and the coffee making me jittery. She believed me of course. Then I started to go on about how gorgeous she looked and how much I loved her. Then Katniss blushed and I knew I had to ask her right then and there. So I paid the bill and then we got ready to leave. Just when she got up I grabbed her hand and- this will sound so cheesy and cliché but I don't give a damn- it felt like maybe for a moment time froze. I said I had something important to tell her and that it wouldn't change a thing between us. When Katniss looked scared I realized she thought I was going to break-up with her. The look on her face when I dropped down on one knee... I grabbed the ring box and opened it up, Katniss covered her face (she's not to good at showing her emotions) and started blushing like crazy. I started rambling on saying that she was the love of my life and that there was no one else in the entire world I'd ever want but her. (This next part is for your amusement Dells) Then I said,_

_"Katniss Everdeen, I love you. Will you marry me?"_

_She whispered yes really soft and then I stood up and kissed her. Everyone in the shop started clapping and cheering and then I put the ring on her finger and we both started crying._

_There you go little sister, how I asked Katniss._

_Love Peeta_

_P.S. You were right. Katniss liked the pearl better than a diamond. I owe you five bucks. :)_

"What's that?" A quiet voice squeaks behind me. I turn around and see Ms. Trinket, the librarian, one of my friends.

"My brother asked Katniss to marry him. He just sent me an email telling me how he asked her." I say. Ms. Trinket's blue eyes twinkle and she swoons for a moment.

"Oh, that's so wonderful." She says. Her voice has a strange quality to it. Her vowels are either very wide or very long. I think she might be British, but maybe it's just because she's a librarian and she has that kind of voice. "Yes, the only romance for me is in romance novels."

"Oh, Ms. Trinket-" I begin.

"Delly, how many times have I told you? I knew Johnathon when I was a student teacher, Asher when I became a library assistant, and I've watched you and Peeta go through high school as a librarian. Feel free to call me Effie." She says.

"Effie." I correct. It's not that I feel uncomfertable calling a teacher by their first name, it's just that when I say Effie I feel like I'm cussing. "You'll find someone. I'm almost seventeen and I've only dated a few people. Two or three. You're 26, I'm sure you've dated lots of guys."

"A few..." Effie says. "Men don't like... my type." She trails off. Then goes to work on dusting ther books that no one wants to read. Not to be rude, but there aren't that many men who like _her_ type. Effie is... quirky. She's like a cross between Lady Gaga and Zooey Deschanel. Quiet with a different sense of style. Like today, Ms. Trinket is wearing a spring green pencil skirt with a jacket to match and a large flower hair clip. It's almost as if she _wants_ to be sterotyped as a weird librarian. But guys don't like _my_ type either. To be blunt, I'm about ten pounds overweight. Okay, fifteen. It's a combonation of a slow metabolism and not being good at any sport with the words "ball" or "ing" in it.

"Effie." I whisper loudly. She looks at me curiously. "Every crooked pot, has a crooked lid." I smile knowing that it's exactly what she needs to hear. Sure enough, she smiles at me.

I tell Rue some of the details about Peeta's proposal and we talk about a cute new kid that winked at her in Algebra.

"A wink seals the deal." I say and Rue smiles. I promise to call her as soon as I know what part Clove gave me and that we'll try to get together to Skype her. I get off at my bus stop and walk in the front door. "Delly Cartwright is in the building." I say loudly. I find my parents in the kitchen sitting at the table. I feel a lump in my throat. They're in their "let's talk buisness" postitons with my mother sitting in her chair and dad standing behind her.

"Delilah, we need to talk to you about something." I gulp and set my bookbag on the counter, then sit across from them. "We recieved a phone call today." For a moment I relax, Effie must've forgotten to call the office to not mark me absent. It's happened before and with our romance talk today she probably thought she did when she didn't. It's school procedure to call home when a student is absent from one or more classes unexcused. And my parents know that I would never skip class.

"If the school called, Ms. Trinket was talking to me today and-"

"Delly, that's not who called today." My mother says slowly.


	3. Chapter 3 Worried Sick

**Welcome back. Thank-you to TayLullabyLove, BelieveInDream, and TheSunWillRise2340 for reviewing! I'm at home sick right now and figured I should update since I can't tomorrow. Reveiws are my medicine!**

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Chapter 3- Worried Sick

_What could I have possibly done wrong? _My mind swims in a sea of ideas, things that I might have done wrong to get myself in trouble. I said no the beer at Cato's graduation party, could they really be getting mad at me for not leaving a party with alcohol that happened almost a year ago?

"Delly, you're not in trouble so stop holding your breath." Dad says. I almost faint but I keep my balance. "The phone call we recieved today was from a nursing home, my mother has fallen into a relapse of cancer, we're going to need to fly out to Florida right away." My face falls. Sure, I've never really met Peeta's grandmother but anyone going back into cancer after thinking they were done is sad. "Don't worry, the doctors predict she'll live and will most likely be able to make it to Peeta's wedding as well. They just need someone watching over her while she's in the hospital getting treated. We're telling you because you'll be staying with someone else while we're gone."

"Oh." I say suddenly feeling much better. "How long are you guys gonna be away?"

"Until July at least." Mother says.

"Okay." I say. "Should I tell Rue I'll be staying at her house?"

"Delly, that's the thing..." Mother trails off. "Do you remember the Hawthornes?" I try to rack my brain for something.

"Umm, I remember I used to babysit their two youngest sons. Vick and Rory, right?" I ask. Mom nods her head.

"So you remember Hazelle and Jacob?" I nod. "Well, a few years ago Jacob got into a car accident. Now Hazelle is a widow, her oldest son Gale enlisted in the army and is returning home for the last time."

"Gale? I don't really remember him." I think out loud.

"He went to your school. Gale's about twenty, twenty-one now." Mom continues. _That means he was a senior when I was a_ _freshman._ I think._ It was around the time that Peeta introduced me to his friends, I joined The Red Cross at school, began doing stage crew for plays and musicals, around the time that Peeta started talking about Katniss..._

"Oh, I saw him once or twice. Is he Katniss' cousin or something? They always hung out a lot." I say.

"No, the Everdeens and Hawthornes were just close friends." Mother says. "Anyways, you know that it's hard for soldiers to adapt to life after returning from such a horrible experience, so Hazelle wanted someone to help Gale adjust. He went through something out there, Hazelle won't even tell me what it was, but she thinks that _you_ can help him."

"Me?" I ask blankly. _I count on my fingers in math and Hazelle Hawthorne- who I haven't seen in almost five years- thinks that I can help her lost and potentially deranged son who's returning from a war. Where was he fighting? Pakistan? Iraq? Afghanistan? What's Gale's rank? Do I remember what he looks like, let alone what kind of person he was? _

"Delly, you're perfect to help Gale. You're the most giving person I know." Mother says.

"It's true." Christian adds. "You're in about every volunteer group at your school. I don't know anyone else more fit for the job."

"Dad, sending out care packages for soldiers at Christmas is one thing, interacting with one who's been through a traumatizing event is another. He might be old enough to _drink_. He's just going to see me as a dorky high schooler." I say, still not able to say _Gale_ out loud for some reason. Christian waves my mother away, signaling he wants to talk to me in private.

"_Gale_ might be older than you by, what? Four years? You turn seventeen in June, right?" Christian asks. I nod. "So he's older than you, and God knows what he's been through on that battlefield... But Delilah Lilly, you've got something that is very rare and hard to find. I don't have it, your mother doesn't have it, Peeta doesn't have it, and I don't think I've ever met anyone else who has it." I stare at him blankly. "You have hope Delly. Unconditional hope in every situation. No matter what, you put a positive spin on something. You're a listener and you always know what to say. You are the first spring dandelion, a sign to an end, a light at the end of a tunnel.

"The term, 'canary in a coal mine' comes to mind. If things get dangerous, you're the first to know and you put a stop it it. I think that's why Hazelle asked you to help Gale. Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear." He says. "You're free to go." I exit the room slowly and trudge upstairs to my room. I flop on my bed and stare up at the patch of ceiling that isn't covered by a poster or picture.

_Canary in a coal mine. _I think._ Peeta used to call me that. But he was referencing to the fact that whenever a virus goes around I'm the first one to catch it. Then everyone around me would bulk up on the multivitamins and hand sanitizer. I've been told time and time again that I'm hopelessly optimistic but is that why Hazelle chose me? Out of _all_ the people in the world she's picked me. And from what it sounds like Gale won't be seeing any shrinks. What if he hates me? Almost everyone hates a Mary-Sue. Am I a Mary-Sue? No. I have flaws. Tons of them. I'm needy, dependant, others fuel me. But I'm not someone who needs compliments 24/7 like Glimmer. I could be independent if I tried. Maybe... What happened to Gale out there? Why is it so bad that Hazelle won't tell my mom? I'm about to get sent into uncharted territory. How am I supposed to prepare? I have no clue what this guy's been through. He could be amputated. Depressed. Suicidal. He could be on life support for all I know. Did someone get killed? Was he almost killed? Held hostage? I don't remember the name Gale Hawthrone in the news, but you never know. So many people die without you knowing. I'm going to miss the wedding planning. I'll be in a bipolar situation. One minute I'll be chatting it up with future family, trying wedding cake samples, going to dress fittings and then I'll be helping... I don't even know what. Gale Hawthorne. _I let out what must be the longest, loudest sigh ever.

"What's gonna happen to me?" I ask the ceiling.

Alarm clock. Half-hearted toothbrush jamming to a Hot n' Cold encore. Casual brown dress with little pink flowers. I think I might've worn this on Valentine's Day once...

"Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, good-bye fams'." I half shout. Everything's halfly done today. I walk onto the bus and sit next to Rue.

"Hey Dells!" She says. "I'm going to be Little Red Riding Hood. You?"

"Rue, Halloween isn't for a while last time I checked." I say.

"No! For Clove's play! What part did you get?" She asks. Just when I thought it wasn't possible, Rue's big brown eyes get even bigger.

"Oh. The play. Right." I pull out my iPhone. I find a message from Clove. "Alice. From Alice in Wonderland." I get a little excited but then zone out.

"That's great Delly! You're going to be awesome. Glimmer tweeted that she's going to be Sleeping Beauty and Clove added that she'll play Snow White." Rue says smiling. I curl the corners of my mouth. Clove will be a perfect Snow White.

"So what's the play about?" I ask.

"You really didn't check the email last night?" Rue asks. I shake my head. "It's called Faireality Tales. Different fairy tale characters are in a therapy session being elvatuated for their problems and disorders. Clove said that it would mostly be improv and ad lib, but there are a few things we need to stick with." I check the email again.

"Clove wants Alice to be a drug addict." I say. "What's messed up with your character?"

"Red is schizophrenic. She keeps seeing a wolf that's going to eat her and her dead grandmother." Rue says. This, I can smile at.

"This is _so_ Clove." I say. "She always wondered if Lewis Carrol was high when he wrote Alice in Wonderland." I zone out again.

"Delly." Rue says snapping her fingers. "Something's going on with you and don't just say no because I know you better than my left hand." I don't hestitate to spill my guts.

"Peeta's grandmother has cancer again so my parents are going to help her with treatment in Florida. They're making me stay here until they get back in July but instead of staying with someone I know, I'm staying with this widow I haven't seen since I was twelve. And she wants me to help her son Gale- he went to our school but I don't really remember him- who's a soldier returning for the final time. I have no idea what he's been through because Hazelle won't tell my mom and- gosh Rue I'm just so scared." My voice escalates getting more frantic and worried as I go on.

"Calm the heck down." Rue says. "I don't see what you're worried about."

"He could be amputated!" I practically shout.

"Delly, you're going to be fine." Rue says. "No matter what he's been through I know that you're the only one who can help him."

"That's what my parents are saying."

"Well look, it's not going to be that bad." She says. "You'll be going to rehearsals and wedding stuff so you'll be able to talk to me and Peeta about it."

"You're right." I say. "I won't be alone. I'm sure that Hazelle is ging to help too. And Gale's younger brothers. I was just being dramatic."

"So you're good now?" Rue asks. I nod. "Good."

"Tonight," I say. "I'm going to find out as much as I can about him."


	4. Chapter 4 Slumber Party

**Hi, I just want to inform you that this whole 'updating every spare moment' thing might be coming to an end because I have a bad habit of getting excited about a story, updating, then leaving it alone. So I'm going to end that now by trying to make sure to take turns with my stories as far as updates go. Don't worry, because this one is still in its early stage I have to give it a few more chapters before that happens. So I'm spoiling you right now and you better enjoy it. Also I promise to stop giving you short chapters soon because short chapters suck.**

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Chapter 4- Slumber Party

"Did you find out anything about him?" Rue asks. At the moment, I'm discovering that trying talk to your best friend while googling improv is a hard thing to do.

"Yeah." I say clicking on a site. I skim the details and take a few notes. "Gale was a sergeant, positioned in Pakistan. He had two close friends that were in his troop, they mostly dealt with bombers and stuff like that."

"Yikes." Rue says. "Well, at least it's not starving children being beaten or anything."

"Rue! It could be, I don't know. Hazelle just told me the basics." I say. "I checked into it and it turns out that his group got sent in to stop a suicide bomber who was holding his fourteen year old fiancée hostage."

"Gross." She says. "I've always hated child marriages. It's just plain sick."

"Yeah." I say again. "They got the girl out, but not all of _them_ made it out. Two people were amputated, one suffered brain damage, and one person died." There's an awkward pause.

"Gale made it out fine though?" Rue finally breaks the silence.

"No." I say softly. "When something like that happens, there's no way you can make it out fine."

"Gosh Delly, you really care about this guy." Rue says awed.

I take a deep breath. "Of course I care. Nobody should have to go through that. It makes me upset that this is in today's society at all."

"Let's get off this topic." Rue says. "Remember, friends are the break. Got it?"

"Got it." I say robotically.

"When are your parents leaving town?"

"This Thursday. I move in with Hazelle on Wednesday and Gale comes home on Sunday."

"Do you wanna stay at my house tonight? My parents wouldn't mind. And I think you need a girls' night before this starts." Rue says. I sigh.

"I think that's exactly what I need." I say.

"Okay. I'll ask my folks, you ask yours." Rues says. "Back in five, 'kay?"

"Yeah." I say. "Bye." I hang up and run downstairs. "Hey mom?"

"Yes?" She asks.

"Can I stay at Rue's tonight?" I ask. "Pleeeeeeease?"

"If it's okay with her parents it's okay with me." Mom says.

"Thanks." I say dashing back up the stairs. I stare at my phone waiting for it to ring. When it does I take no hesitation to answer.

"Yes for me." Rue says. "Yes for you?"

"Yes." I say.

"Cool, my mom can pick you up in fifteen minutes." She says.

"I'll be ready." I say hanging up. I pull my duffel bag out from under my bed and throw in my PJs, clothes, toothbrush, comb, and a book of pizza coupons knowing that it will be my meal for tonight. I run downstairs to say good-bye and rush out the door. I climb into the backseat of Rue's mom's Prius.

"Hey." Rue says when she sees me. "Did you bring your pizza coupons?"

"Yeah." I say.

"You girls make me feel like a chauffeur when you both sit in the back." Rue's mom says.

"Sorry." Rue says. She turns back to me. "Thresh is going to be happy to see you again."

"How's the online school going?" I ask.

"It's great. He's doing really good and has a part-time job as a trainer at Planet Fitness." Rue says.

"Do you think he could help me?" I ask. "I'd like to lose some weight for Peeta's wedding."

"I'll ask him." She says. I notice how she doesn't stop to say that I don't need to loose weight. Nobody does when I ask for help with my fitness and diet. "So have you gotten any details on anything yet?"

"Nope." I say. "I'm sure once they both come back everything will be coming in at lightning speed. He did say, however, that you are most definitely invited."

"Yay!" Rue says. "Can I borrow your green gossamer dress?"

"You're picking your outfit already? Geeze Rue, slow down. The wedding isn't until September. Besides, it wouldn't fit you. You're a stick."

"Okay, so you've made a point of my extreme thinness. I'll wait until you get your bridesmaid dress until I talk about what _I'll_ wear." She says. I nod in agreement. When we get to her house, the first thing I get is a bear hug from Thresh.

"Hey Delly, long time no see, am I right?" He asks.

"You just saw me last month in the Talent Show with Rue!" I say still light-headed from the squeeze of his hug.

"Riiiiiiight." Thresh says slowly remembering. "You guys did Gangnam Style."

"I still have the Korean memorized." I say. It only takes two seconds before all three of us burst out in song and dance to the well known K-Pop song. Rue's mom orders pizza and the three of us run into Rue's bedroom to kill time.

"Pick a color." Thresh says holding out a paper fortune-teller. When Rue went through an origami phase she made hundreds- literally _hundreds_- of them. They lie among many other things in her room.

"Blue." I say.

"Any particular reason you chose blue?" Thresh asks. You can't expect a guy like him to do anything without trying to irritate you.

"Because it's the color of my eyes." I say blandly. Rue sits next to me trying not to laugh.

"But, it's not your favorite color?" He questions smiling. At this point, Rue lets some of her giggles leak out.

"No." I say slowly. Thresh stares at me blankly.

"What's your favorite color then?" He asks, waiting for me to pop. I take a breath smiling.

"Yellow." I say. "You know that. You got me a yellow dress for my birthday last year with a yellow frosted cupcake."

"In all fairness, Thresh gave me money and told me to pick something out for you and Peeta helped him with the frosting on the cupcake." Rue interjects.

"Don't change the subject little sister." Thresh says harshly, but comically. "So, if yellow is your favorite color... why'd you pick blue?"

"Because blue is the color of my eyes." I restate. Rue bursts into laugher and begins rolling on the floor.

"But it's not your favorite colo-"

"Just spell out blue so we can move on to numbers!" I shout finally giving in. Smiling at his victory, Thresh opens and closes the paper toy.

"B-L-U-E." He says in a rhythmic voice. "Pick a number."

"Ten." I say. Thresh raises an eyebrow. "Te-nah." I repeat slowly.

"One, four, five, Z, Q, fifty-six, six, eight, three, X." He says without any pauses. "Pick another number."

"Sixteen, because it's my age." I say.

"When do you turn seventeen?" Thresh asks.

"June nineteenth." I say.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, ummmm. Don't tell me! Twenty-two?" He asks.

"Yes." Rue says smiling. "That's absolutely right."

"Pick a number." Thresh asks. I point to the nine. He unfolds and keeps it to himself before reading. "You will meet a magical unicorn with awesome powers. He will give you a plate of spaghetti and tell you to always take singles to a strip club."

"It does not say that!" Rue says grabbing the fortune-teller from his hands. "You will meet a new friend." She says reading the real fortune while leaning away to keep Thresh from taking it back. "Hey, that's a good omen isn't it?"

"Good omen for what?" Thresh asks.

"Peeta's grandmother has cancer again, so while my parents are in Florida while she goes through treatment, I'm staying at the Hawthornes' house because Hazelle Hawthorne's son is returning from Pakistan for the last time and something happened to him. She seems to think that I can help him get used to modern life." I say slowly.

"Good for you." Thresh says. "I'm sure that you'll help him."

"Thresh, did you know him?" I ask. "Gale Hawthrone, he used to go to our school. He's four years older than me, so I barely remember him. He would've been two years ahead of you."

"Hawthorne?" Thresh asks. I nod. "I remember that he was usually alone. He was good friends with Katniss, I think they dated once, I'm not sure." _Great._ _I'm about to help someone who might have dated my future sister-in-law. What if he remembers her and asks about her? Gosh I hope that doesn't happen._

"Pizza." Rue says as the doorbell rings. The two of us slowly get up but Thresh hops on his feet and then pushes us both down to get a head start. "See what I have to live with?" Rue says angrily.

"Yes." I say getting up. "It's pretty hard to get mad at Peeta. He always pulls puppy dog eyes on me or complains about his prosthetic leg hurting his knee. You can't argue with that."

"I'll take cupcakes and paintings over complaining and pushing any day." Rue says as we head down the staircase. "You better not have eaten all of it!"

"No." Thresh says. "Only half." When I look in the pizza box, I realize he isn't joking.

"You pig!" Rue says slapping him on the shoulder playfully. They act like they hate each other, but you know that they're acting. I peel the cheese off mine and eat the crust and sauce. I know that there's probably eggs and milk in it, but I'm not a hard-core vegan. I used to just be a vegetarian, but I thought being a vegan would help with weight loss. So far I've lost two pounds. Maybe Thresh can help me get into a size four bridesmaid dress.

"Hey Thresh, I'd like to lose some wight before Peeta's wedding." I say. "I've recently become a vegan, so I've got my diet all set up, but since you're a trainer and all I was hoping you could help me get into shape."

"If you get a membership, I can help you for sure." He says with a mouthful of pizza. "I can't help you all the time, but I can get you started. Just until you get an idea of what you need to do."

"Okay. Sounds great." I say. Thresh snatches my leftover cheese. I take another slice and peel the cheese off. I hold it out to Rue. She shakes her head and Thresh takes that piece too.

"My GOD, you are such a hog!" Rue shouts.

"Well you weren't going to take it!" He protests.

"But you just grabbed it out of her hand!"

"I don't mind." I say.

"She doesn't mind." Thresh says happily. We all pause when there's a soft noise coming from upstairs.

"Is that your laptop?" Rue asks.

"Yeah." Thresh says. Suddenly I remember the sound.

"Someone's calling you on Skype!" I shout. Rue and I run for the stairs and Thresh grabs the pizza box following behind. Rue accepts the call before checking who it is. When Cato's face comes up on the screen the two of us scream as long and loud as we can. He just smiles and laughs at us.

"Hi!" Cato says when we're finished. "You guys having a sleepover or something?"

"Yes!" We both shout.

"Do you wanna talk to us, or just Thresh?" Rue asks.

"Well, since you're there I might as well talk to all of you." He says.

"Yay!" I say. Thresh comes up behind us.

"Hey Thresh." Cato says.

"Hi." Thresh says.

"Oh my God. Put down the pizza." Rue says.

"Why?" Thresh asks.

"Nevermind." She huffs. A door opens and closes in Cato's dorm in the background.

"Hey, I'm back early." I recognize the voice. "Who you talking to?"

"Thresh, Rue, and Delly." Cato says. Marvel pulls up a chair and sits next to Cato.

"Hi guys." He says. Rue and I scream again. "If you want me to leave..." Marvel jokes getting up.

"No!" I shout.

"Stay." Rue commands. He obediently sits down.

"So what's up?" Cato asks.

"Um, we're waiting for you guys to come home." Thresh says. "I'm the only guy left in town."

"And I can't wait to meet my brother and his new bride." I say smiling. I get my wanted reaction.

"What?" Cato asks. "Your brother got married?"

"No, he's engaged." I say. "Remember Katniss who went to our school?" They both nod. "Well... Peeta's had a crush on her since I was a freshman and they both went to Penn State. One thing led to another and now they're getting married in September."

"How's that going to work?" Cato asks.

"Peeta said they were going to enroll for the next term so they can find a place to live, jobs, and that kind of stuff." I say.

"Send him my best wishes." Marvel says.

"You're going to see him! The wedding's going to be here! The planning starts as soon as they get back." I say.

"Okay then." Marvel says. "I'll tell him myself." He looks down at his phone.

"Who are you texting?" Rue asks.

"Clove." Marvel says not looking up. "Do you want her to come over? She just finished her shift."

"Yes!" Rue and I shout.

"Thresh, you haven't said a word, you're just sitting there eating your pizza." Cato says laughing. Rue and I turn around.

"Talk to them, they're your friends!" Rue says.

"Fine." Thresh says. "Hi guys."

"Hi." They say slowly.

"How's the online stuff?" Cato asks.

"Good." Thresh says. "I'm getting a raise at Planet Fitness."

"Cool." Cato says. "Hey Marv, do they know about..."

"No." He says. "I'll wait."

"Tell us!" Rue says.

"Don't bother, it's Marvel." Thresh says. "He can keep any secret. You should work for the FBI."

"Meh, I like acting." Marvel says. "I'm going to be in Clove's play. I get to be the openly gay therapy counselor."

"This, I can't wait to see." Thresh says. There's a knock at the door and Marvel gets it. Clove walks in and they whisper back and forth. She pulls up a chair and sits next to Marvel. Rue and I scream again.

"Would you stop it with the screaming?" Thresh asks.

"That's our thing." I say laughing.

"Since when?" He asks.

"Since now." I say.

"Rue, you wanted to know my secret?" Marvel asks. Rue nods her head. Marvel kisses Clove for a long time as Rue and I scream again.

"PDA is not okay! PDA is not okay!" Cato chants. When the two of them pull away Rue starts interogatting.

"How long have you been going out?" She asks.

"About two months now." Marvel says. "How else do you think I got first pick on my part in the play?"

"You didn't get first pick." Clove says rolling her eyes. "I just gave you the only guy's part."

"Well maybe I wanted to play Sleeping Beauty." Marvel says.

"Please." Clove scoffs. "Hey Dells, is Peeta gonna invite us to the wedding?"

"Probably." I say. "I haven't talked to him much about that, but I promise I will personally punch him in the face for you if he doesn't invite you guys."

"Can you get him to take Glimmer off the list?" Cato asks. "She's just going to wear something trashy and steal everyone's attention away from the bride."

"Like you would mind." Thresh says.

"She's my _ex_." Cato protests.

"You still have a thing for her. Two things actually. And they're called eyeballs." Thresh says.

"Think whatever you want, I'm not a player like I used to be." Cato says with truth in his voice.

"Sure." Thresh says. "But I know that Glimmer didn't buy a waterbra to impress me."

"So you follow her on Instagram _and_ look at her pictures?" I say.

"Oh snap." Marvel says.

"Busted." Clove says. "Delly, Rue tells me that you have to spend the summer with a soldier. Details."

"What?" Cato asks. I cover my face.

"He's a sergeant and his mom wants me to stay with them because she thinks I'll help him get used to life." I say knowing that the teasing will begin.

"Someone's shackn' up." Cato mumbles.

"You bastard! He's a soldier and this isn't porn!" Clove says punching his shoulder.

"Yeah. But they're gonna do it." Cato says. "And owwww!"

"Delly's only sixteen." Clove says.

"So what?" Cato says. "I did it when I was fourteen."

"Yeah. With your hand." Clove spits. Cato is taken aback.

"You set yourself up for that one bro." Thresh says.

"Listen Dells, use protection." Cato says.

"Dick." Clove mutters.

"Bitch." Cato returns.

"What did you call me?" She asks whipping her dark-haired head.

"Be-och." He says slowly. A smirk spreads across his face.

"Stop having an orgasm and wipe that fucking grin off your Goddamn face before I smack it off for you." Clover shouts.

"Okay then! I'm going to sign us off before this becomes a rated R movie." Marvel says reaching for the mouse.

"Already is." Rue sings.

"Bye!" Marvel says and he closes out.

"Well that was fun." Thresh says enthusiastically.

"Indeed." I say.


	5. Chapter 5 The Meeting

**I'm spoiling you rotten. And you're spoiling me with the reviews. (I get excited when I see two reviews) Thank-you again to BelieveInDream and to our newcomer Guest. A few things to keep in mind while reading this chapter:**

**I promised you longer chapters, this is the first of many. I've now added Clovel to the list of pairings in this story. If you're wondering about Haymitch, I have him all planned out so the Heffie ship is set to sail. Oh yeah, GALE IS IN THIS CHAPTER! :D**

* * *

_This is new_

_Feels unused_

_I've never met anyone like you_

Atlantis, Ellie Goulding

* * *

Chapter 5- The Meeting

"What time is it?" Rue moans waking up next to me. I glance at her alarm clock.

"Almost noon." I groan.

"What day is it?" She mumbles.

"It's Sunday. The joke that we call a weekend." I say.

"How many days are left in school?" Rue says.

"Two weeks." I say. "Stop asking me questions."

"Stop answering them." I turn to face Rue and start laughing. Her hair has become brown frizzies. "Shhh. If Thresh hears us-" Rue's voice is cut off by the sound of a wooden spoon banging on a metal pot. Thresh comes into the room. The pot is on his head like a helmet and he continually bangs on it.

"Rise and shine!" He shouts. "Mom made waffles so get your butts downstairs before I eat them all." Rue jumps out of the bed and I hop on Thresh's back. The three of us make our way down the stairs.

"Thanks mom." Rue says.

"Thanks mom." I echo.

"Mwamwamaaa." Thresh says showing his full mouth.

"Ewww!" Rue shouts. "You know, waffles are good, but everyone knows the ultimate slumber party breakfast is cold pizza. Not that's there's any left since you ate it all."

"Rue, calm down." I say. "There's nothing wrong with syrupy buttery goodness."

"Waffles are good, but they're just plaid pancakes." She says. "Then again, it could be that pancakes are naked waffles..." The two of us debate the issue until brushing our teeth to Kiss You by One Direction. Even Thresh joins in and all three of us scream as loudly as possible. Rue and I spend the rest of the day walking on one of the nature trails by her house. There's a gigantic field filled with rue flowers and the tiny spots of yellow in the green are breathtaking. I think about Peeta's marriage, about seeing Hazelle again, about meeting Gale, about losing weight and about turning seventeen. We get back to Rue's house and my mom picks me up. By the time I'm back home it's dark outside already. Exhausted and anxious, I go to bed.

Monday: Alarm clock. Brush teeth to Everybody Talks by Neon Trees. Go to school. Come home. Do homework. IM Peeta and Katniss. Sleep.

Tuesday: Alarm clock. Brush teeth to Circle the Drain by Katy Perry censoring the f-bombs. Go to school. Talk to Effie. Come home. Do a slightly less amount of homework. Get anxious. Work off anxiety at first workout with Thresh. Shower. Go to bed.

Wednesday: Alarm clock. Brush teeth to Pearl by Katy Perry. Go to school. Come home. Pack. Bring things over to Hazelle's house. Meet her sons Rory (14) and Vick (12) and her new daughter Posy (7). Talk to her kids while my mom talks to Hazelle about everything. Say good-bye to mom. Awkwardly unpack in the guest room. Watch _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ with Posy. Sleep.

Thursday: Alarm clock. Brush teeth with That's What Makes You Beautiful on a low volume until Posy joins me in the dance fest. Get dropped off at school. Endure a lecture from Rue about how lonely she was this morning. Come home. Work out with Thresh. Go back to _my_ house to say good-bye to Mom and Dad. Go back to Hazelle's house. Sleep.

Friday: You know the drill by this point.

Saturday: Spend the entire day at the gym. Learn the hard way that sweating doesn't get rid of anxiety.

Sunday: I wake up at around 7AM. Posy comes into my room and jumps on the bed.

"Gale's coming home!" She squeals. I put on a smile and grab her by the waist.

"Gale? Who's Gale?" I play dumb.

"He's my brother! He's 21 years old, looks just like me, and fights to keep us safe." Posy says.

"You're very smart to know all of that." I say. She smiles and blushes.

"You have to get dressed. We're going to eat breakfast and then at nine we're going to pick him up at the airport." Posy continues. "Can we have another teeth brushing dance party? Can I help you pick out your outfit? Can you help me pick out mine?"

"Yes." I say smiling at her energy. "Yes to all of those questions." Posy grabs my hand and pulls me into the kitchen. Boxes of cereal sit on the table and Rory opens a gallon of milk.

"Mom! Posy's taking all of the Lucky Charms." Vick shouts. The tiny brown haired girl looks up from a bowl about the size of her face.

"Victor Hawthorne, how many times have we been through this, your sister is seven years old she can barely eat an entire banana." Hazelle says calmly. "And Posy dear, what are you doing? I thought you didn't like Lucky Charms."

"I'm pouring it for him." She says. Vick walks over.

"Sorry Posy. Thanks." He says quietly.

"Delly, your mom told me you were a vegan so I picked up a few of these you." Hazelle says handing me a box of Kashi.

"Thank-you Hazelle." I say. I take a seat between Rory and Posy. The cereal is as hard as rocks, but I've eaten it a thousand times before.

"Why are you a vegan?" Rory asks. His voice is deeper than I thought it would be. I look up and his gray eyes blink twice.

"Well, I was a vegetarian, but then I switched." I say. "I think it's a little unfair to animals and I'm trying to lose weight for my brother's wedding."

"Oh." He says. The rest of the breakfast goes in silence. Posy joins me for another dance party, today's song; I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry. At the end of the song Posy pecks me on the cheek and a sensation of her utter care spreads throughout me. Her pure innocence almost makes me cry. Posy leads me into her room where I help her select a soft rosy frock and white leggings. Like a duckling to its mother she follows me into my room and wastes no time opening my closet.

"You should wear this." Posy announces tugging on the yellow dress Thresh/Rue gave me for my birthday. Its color reminds me of sunshine, a soft and slightly muted heat. "It matches your hair and it's pretty."

"Are you sure it's not too fancy?" I ask truthfully. I rub a bit of the satiny fabric between my fingers.

"No. When Gale came home other times, some of the wives waiting for their husbands were _super_ fancy." Posy says. "Maybe because of the skinny straps it'll look fancy, but Mom said that this is a miracle. I don't think you can dress too fancy for a miracle." Once again, the words of a harsh truth coming from the mouth of a child make me tear up. She doesn't seen to notice.

"Okay." I say. "I'll change and then we can go see if it's time to go." With a smile, Posy hops out of the room. I remove the dress from its hanger and zip up the back. I slip into white ballet flats and Hazelle calls everyone into the car. After parking the car, Hazelle leads us to the gate Gale will be arriving at. Chairs and tables have been set up and a large banner reads "WELCOME HOME". I see a few other families and some people with gold ribbons. Gold star families. Posy runs off and meets up with other girls her age. They talk about moms, dads, and brothers coming home for good. Rory finds a friend to talk to and Vick begins unfolding and flattening the sign he made for Gale. Hazelle introduces me to a few of her friends and explains why I'm here. Even when I walk away they continue to talk.

"Why don't you just get him a therapist?"

"Isn't she a little big?"

"Hazelle, that girl won't help Gale. As soon as she gets an eyeful of him all she'll want is a date."

"I have faith in Delly. And if she does fall for my son so be it. She is a lovely girl and he deserves someone like her after what he's been through."

I walk off on my own and sit at a table. A young woman sits next to me.

"Do you mind?" She asks in a shaky voice. Her eyes appear as if the ocean was trapped inside them.

"No, not at all." I say. She wears a pure white dress that clings to her skin as if it were wet. The skirt is full and flares out to her knees showing off her tanned legs. She's no doubt one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. Her face is mature, and she looks to be in her mid twenties.

"So who are you here for?" I ask.

"My husband, Finnick." She says. "How do you know Hazelle?"

"I used to babysit her sons. She has the crazy notion that I can help her son adjust to life." I say.

"Gale and my husband are good friends." She says. "I'm Annie by the way."

"I'm Delly." I say. Annie goes into a daydream.

When I hear the first cry, I know that they're here. I'm completely unprepared for all of the little children running to their parents. Husbands, wives, parents, and children crying and hugging and kissing. Annie slowly lifts her head up and her tear filled eyes widen as she locks on something in the distance. She breaks into a sprint, and runs pretty well for someone in heels. I see a red-haired figure break away from the crowd and dash over. Just when I think they're going to run into each other, Finnick scoops up Annie in his arms spinning her around and kissing her for a long time. A tear slides down my own face as I smile at their love.

"I don't see him." Posy says. "Wait, Delly come quick!" I run over and Hazelle covers her mouth with her hand. I see him. Posy was right, Gale does look like her. All of the Hawthornes share their olive skin, dark hair, and stormy irises. Nobody has exaggerated the his good looks either. But I don't get nervous, I still watch him hug Hazelle and rub her back before Posy attacks his legs.

"Hey Posy." He says. "You were a shrimp the last time I saw you! You're still a shrimp but now you can tackle!"

"Gaaale!" Posy says hugging him tighter. "I missed you."

"I missed you too kiddo." Gale says. Rory comes over and hugs his big brother. "Did you like being man of the house?"

"Nah. It's not all it's cracked up to be." Rory says shrugging. "I'd trade it to have you home any day."

"Thanks." Gale says. He glances at the "GALE YOU ROCK" sign Vick holds. "You're at least two inches taller since I saw you."

"Growth spurt." Vick says causally.

"I guess I can't call you squirt anymore huh?" Gale asks. Vick shrugs. "Good. I'll always be taller than you so you'll _always_ be squirt." At this point he finally turns to face me.

"Gale, this is Delilah Cartwright. Her parents are out of town so she'll be staying with us." Hazelle says. I can feel him studying me.

"You can call me Delly." I say shaking his hand. "Everyone does."

Hazelle continues. "She's a very nice girl and I think she'll be good to hang around until you adjust. Delly's only two years younger than you." Gale's face stays neutral.

"Nice to meet you." He says plainly. "Just let me say 'bye to Finn and then we can go." I glance over at Annie and Finnick who are still locked in a warm embrace. Annie motions me over and I awkwardly stand next to Gale who begins speaking to Finnick.

"Hey, Finnick, I'm about to head out. Just wanted to say 'bye. Maybe we can meet up another time?" Gale asks.

"Sure, I just need to be with Annie a little bit first." Finnick says. He glances at me. "Who's this?"

"Delly." Annie answers. "I like her." She nods at him and they pass some sort of secret code. "Delly this is my husband."

"It's nice to meet you." The words pour out of my mouth like water and I reach out my hand. Unexpectedly, Finnick kisses it rather than the traditional handshake. My cheeks fill with pink at the gesture from the handsome red-head. Annie doesn't seem bothered. Gale rolls his eyes.

"Well, I've got to get home, but I'll see you later." He says walking away. I smile at Annie and Finnick.

"It was nice meeting you." I say. I feel the need to say something else. "Finnick, thank-you for what you've done."

"No problem." He says. "It's always nice to be appreciated." I smile and walk away. I feel invisible on the car ride home, but I don't care. Gale has just returned from war, he can take all the attention he wants. When I get home I start writing an email to my parents about meeting Gale, Annie, and Finnick. Then I can hear Gale arguing with Hazelle.

"You can stop tip-toeing around it Mom, I know why she's here. I'm not a child!" He shouts.

"Gale, we both know what happened out there. Nobody could understand that except someone who knows you." Hazelle says calmly. I walk over to my door and press my ear against the wood.

"Then why did you bring her?" Gale asks. "If I need someone who knows me, why on Earth did you bring a teenage girl that I can barely remember into my life?"

"Because she's the only person I could think of." Hazelle says slowly.

"So she's my savior then?" He pauses, thinking of what to say next. "I don't want an angel, I don't want any Goddamn help, and I don't need a child to make me sane! I can't be sane anymore! What part of that don't you understand? Everything happened all at once and no one even thought about how it would effect me! _She_ has no idea what she's gotten herself into! I don't want her and I don't need her! Just get her out of here. She's a joke, trying to smile and pretend she cares. You and I both know she's counting down until she gets out of this house because I've gone crazy. We both know it."

"Gale Jacob Hawthrone, you quiet down before you scare Vick and Posy." Hazelle says harshly. I bite back my own tears. _He hates me. He really hates me._

"I don't care at this point." Gale says. "Nobody was censoring anything for me. I got the truth. So I 'm just giving back what I got." I can hear him walking down the hallway and stopping in front of my door. "I hope you heard all of that." He whispers loudly. I jump onto the bed and begin to cry. Not for myself, but for him. Something happened to Gale. He's beating himself up and I hate it when people do that. I want to help him but he _clearly_ doesn't want me to. I stop crying. Because Gale is the one who should be getting better. If I'm going to cry then he's won. To get Gale back to- whatever Hazelle thinks I can get him to then I need to shape up.

I suddenly have the urge to go to the gym. I don't want to ask Hazelle to drive me there. I change into jean shorts and a t-shirt, then I walk. Instead, I go on a long walk until I come near a nature trail and then I keep walking, until it the sun sets. I make my way back home. I eat my salad, not caring about the looks from Gale.

"Thanks mom." He says. "This is _really_ good steak."

"Hazelle, thank-you for making me a separate dinner. It means a lot to me." I say.

"It's no problem Delly. You're a vegan and I'd hate to drive you off your diet." Hazelle says.

"So why are you a vegan?" Gale asks. "Don't want to hurt animals?"

"And I'm trying to lose weight." I say quietly.

"You're not that fat you know." Gale says. I don't respond. "I'm tired as hell so I'm going to sleep."

"Mommy, Gale said a bad word." Posy whispers.

"Gale, in the future please don't speak like that around your sister." Hazelle says.

"Sorry Posy." Gale says sincerely. "I just have a headache, that's all." He exits the room. I rinse my plate and leave the room. _Why is he so nice one moment and a jerk the next? There's a lot in his head. I need to to _what_ exactly happened. How do you approach something like that?_ I change into my pajamas. Gale walks up and down the hallways a few times until he finally stops and pokes his head in my room.

"You don't know what happened to me out there do you?" He asks.

"No." I say.

"Why did you come here?" Gale asks. "I'm fucked up in ways that I don't even understand. Then you, _you_ come in with your blinding white innocence and purity like an angel."

"I came because your mom told me that she thought I could help you." I say. "I don't know what you've been through, but I want to help you."

"Sure you do." Gale scoffs. He leaves. Then comes back in. "Are you attracted to me at all?" The question gets me off guard. "You are." A smirk spreads across his face.

"No, I'm just not used to being asked so up front." I defend. "I _find_ you attractive, but I'm not attracted _to_ you."

"Really?" He asks. I nod. "Interesting." Then Gale leaves. _I don't know what I'm supposed to make of him. Bipolar maybe..._ I shake it off and fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up when I hear him crying. I peek my head around the corner and peer into his room down the hall. Never in my life, have I seen anyone cry this much, let alone a grown man. Gale is shaking and sobbing, _hard_. Hazelle holds his head in her lap shushing him back to sleep.

"It's all my fault." He keeps repeating. "I should have-" He's cut off by more sobbing. I pretend I didn't see anything. I pretend that Gale's nightmare never happened. I go back into my bed and try to fall back asleep. I don't drift off until he stops crying and the light in his room is turned out. Then I pretend that he's not the only one crying himself back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6 Investigation

**Hey, hey, welcome back. How did you like the last chapter? Gale wasn't everything you expected was he? Hence the name of the story: "The _Un_expected". :D I don't want to do too much POV switching, but for this chapter I kind of needed to. So half of this is Gale, the other half is Delly. It's short and this is a late update. The crappiest combo EVER. I know.**

* * *

_Am I a part of the cure? _

_Or am I part of the disease? _

Coldplay, Clocks

* * *

Chapter 6- Investigation

**Gale**

Being home alone when you're a kid rocks. You can do whatever you want. I used to pull a Risky Business and run around with no pants while listening to _Old Time Rock and Roll_. But when you're home alone as an adult, it really sucks. Most of the time all you can think of is work, but seeing as how I'm currently unemployed, I'm bored as hell. I walk around the kitchen and find a note from my mom.

_I need you to pick up Delly at three o'clock. _

_I'm getting Rory, Posy, and Vick._

Of course. The blonde savior needs to be picked up by me, meaning we'll be in each other's presence for a good fifteen minutes. It's not the fact that my mom is trying to set me up to talk to Delly, it's the fact that she's trying to do it all nonchalantly as if I were a normal person and Delly was an old family friend. If the little angel really were a family friend, I wouldn't have only two memories of seeing her; when she was twelve and I was sixteen and I had to drive her home after babysitting Rory and Vick while I was on a hunting trip with friends, and when I danced with her at the school's Halloween Masquerade. Both memories were awkward and very faint, yet somehow I ended up with her as the one to save me.

"Stupid girl." I mutter under my breath making toaster waffles. Then I come up with an activity for my day; snooping. I take my breakfast into my room and look her up on google. I find her on facebook easily, thanks to the internet gods. Delly's profile picture is what I imagined, a sterotypical I'm-making-a-heart-with-my-hands-in-front-of-my-face-and-smiling shot. Most of her posts are girly and feel more like tweets you'd hear from a Disney Channel star. Her status reads single and I get bored within seconds. One of her old posts reads, _I'm now on Instagram!_ with a link. I click it without hesitation. Her profile name is clever, _HeyImDelilah_ and I stop myself from humming the song. 214 pictures. What the hell? I've got time to kill.

Most of the pictures are simple and very spur of the moment. Things like coffee from Starbucks with the caption _Screw my New Year's Resolutions, I can't live without caffeine._ Or pictures of the seven Harry Potter books; _Best. Series. EVER._ I find a few that are vaguely interesting. Delly in blue wig with pink lips standing next to a small ashen-skinned girl with (obviously fake) glittery eyelashes. Underneath it reads _Just finished my first flash mob! If you didn't catch it here's the link. _I'll watch it later. Another attention-getter; a picture of a necklace with a charm shaped like a clam with a pearl. _This necklace makes me think of Austin, and what a jerk he was. In the words of Katy Perry: No one can steal my pearl!_ I begin to sense a pattern of Katy Perry and sure enough one of the pictures is Delly in a California Gurls costume standing next to Katy herself in an ice-cream dress. _OMG! Met Katy Perry at pre-show meet and greet. I just want to eat her outfit! She's super nice and gave me a pass to dance onstage with her! Heading into the arena, I'll post more pictures later._ Even I think it's pretty cool that she got to meet her. The latest picture is of Delly standing next to that girl again. Delly's in a blue suit and dark sunglasses like PSY and the little girl is dressed as the ginger from the music video. _Rue and I (plus some of the Dance Team members) are__ doing Gangam Style for our Talent Show. Do we look the part?_ All I know is that she likes Katy Perry, Harry Potter, and someone named Austin was a jerk to her. It only took four hours.

* * *

**Delly**

"So, did you get the link I sent you?" Rue asks. I pull my backpack onto my shoulders.

"Yes." I say. "Definitely helped. But improv is still hard."

"Relax, you know Clove will help us." Rue says. "Only a week till' everyone gets back."

"I know, not to be cheesy, but this is going to be the best summer ever." I say. Rue nods her head. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Rue says running to catch the bus. I take my own time walking to the front of the building and waiting for the red truck to pull up. I can already feel summer starting to arrive, the sun is nice and warm and all the dandelions are at the point were they're blooming, but not causing allergies. The moment is ruined when the Hawthorne's truck rounds the corner and I can hear the Black Keys on the stereo. I swear, everyone looks as the hunk of red metal pulls into the parking lot. Gale pulls up right in front of me wearing Aviator sunglasses. He rolls down the window nice and slow with a look of complete and utter impatience on his face. Gale turns down the volume just enough so you can still hear it, yet somehow also hear the sound of everyone around me gawking at him.

"Any day now Delilah." He says, it sounds like a line from a movie.

"Oh, right." I mumble coming back to reality and opening the door. I sit in the front next to him and Gale removes the sunglasses.

"Seat belts are required by law if I'm not mistaken." He says. I buckle the belt as quickly as possible and the glasses go back on. He turns the music back up and the windows close. We speed off like I'm his hostage and the cops are on our tail.

_I'm a lonely boy, I'm a lonely boy_

_Oh woah oh, I got a love that keeps me waiting_

Gale turns off the stereo as the song finishes. His eyes stay locked on the road and a smirk crawls across his face like a caterpillar.

"Was that really necessary?" I burst.

Still looking ahead Gale responds with a simple, "Was what really necessary?"

"That, back there." I say making wild gestures with my hands. "The whole thing where you were picking me up like some badass boyfriend who rides a motorcycle."

"Woah, woah. Who said we were dating?" Gale asks finally looking at me.

"No one! That's what it was like." I say. "Like you were kidnapping me and you wanted everyone to know."

"Okay, captor is a step up from boyfriend, but no. I don't know what you're talking about."

"The music and the sunglasses and the truck, you just did all of that to get attention."

"Think whatever you want Delilah, I'm just picking up precious cargo."

"Stop doing that."

"What?"

"That." I say. "Where you put me on the spot and say things like I'm made of gold and then I'm stuck with my mouth hanging open like a ditz."

"First off, you're blonde, it's a given that you're a ditz." Gale says. "Two, I'm just stating the fact that my mom is putting you on a pedestal to save me."

"And I have enough pressure from her. I don't need it from you." I spit.

"And Venus is a flytrap." He says. "Feisty there, weren't we?" I roll my eyes and scoff folding my arms.

"Look, we're going to get set up like this a lot more, I'm here for the whole summer." I say. "We might as well get grudges out-of-the-way." Gale shrugs like it's no skin off his nose.

"So who's Austin?" He says after a long pause. "I became a one-day member of the C.I.A. today and saw something about him being a jerk on a picture from Instagram."

"Ex-boyfriend." I say. Gale looks at me. If he would just take off those sunglasses I could see his reaction.

"Huh." He says. "You don't burst into tears or go into a rage while mentioning him. Care to explain, or did you do the whole 'just friends' thing?"

"I dated him Freshman year after crushing on him since seventh grade." I begin. "Super cute, really nice, one year older usually dated the girls you would expect him to. He sent me a Valentine and we went to the Spring Fling together. Sort of progressed from there, even over the summer. Then in September he started acting weird."

"He was gay wasn't he?" Gale interrupts.

"No." I snap. "He started asking me to wear different clothes and straighten my hair all the time. At first I thought he just didn't want other guys looking at me but then I saw he was making me into his old girlfriends. I didn't care at first because I really liked him and I thought that if I had to change my look, I could handle it. Then he started- I don't know- making me dull. Everyone's always told me that I'm some kind of bright light and around him I guess I dimmed. Then Austin told me to wear makeup, become a cheerleader and stop hanging out with my friends the 'theatre geeks'. So I said no and I broke up with him."

"Really?" Gale asks like it's the most unbelievable thing in the world.

"I looked him in the eye and I said, 'You know what? I don't need this. I don't need you telling me what I need to be. You either date me or leave me, you don't get to change me. You want a perfect girl, go buy yourself a Barbie. I'm done.' Then I spent the next three days listening to Pearl by Katy Perry." I say. "Simple as that."

"Oh. Okay then." Gale says. We arrive at home and I go for a jog. We go through the rest of our awkard day until I go to sleep.

Then I cry in unison with Gale.


	7. Chapter 7 Addictions

**Hello my darlings, sorry about my delay in update but my life's been busy. Luckily I can always forget about it when I write. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I had to blast through a wall of horrid writers' block before getting the first two words down.**

* * *

_Not gonna be your savior, _

_I don't have the power,_

_I'm not sticking around to watch you circle the drain_

Katy Perry, Circle the Drain

* * *

Chapter 7- Addictions

The last day of school could've have come at a better time. Rue and I waltzed into school as juniors and walked out as soon-to-be seniors. I didn't even care that Gale just _had_ to pick me up with the music blaring again and those aviator lenses reflecting my now six pounds lighter self. That's right. _Six pounds!_ It was weird for me at first, I noticed my collarbone beginning to stand out more, and I had to start using belt-loops that I could only dream of using once upon a time. Rue started noticing and we went out for vegan cupcakes to celebrate. I didn't realize the irony until I was jogging the next morning. I already had to give up two shirts in sacrifice to my new self, I had fantasies about all the cute clothes I could buy from the non-plus-size department stores. Forget guys, my nights are filled with dreams of form-fitting Rue21 shorts and cute American Eagle shirts.

"Hey, stop looking at porn." Gale says peeking his head into my room. I suddenly understand Rue's repeated sigh of _See what I have to live with?_

"It's not porn." I say. "It's the Abercombie and Fitch website." I enjoy the look on his face. Gale clears his throat and holds out the landline phone.

"Your mom wants to talk to you." He says. "She tried your cell but it didn't work." I took the the phone from him and turned around.

"Delly, why couldn't I reach you?" My mother asks concerned. I roll my eyes, knowing that her mother-senses will be able to detect it- even though a phone line many miles long.

"Relax mom, I was texting Rue last night and my battery died. I forgot to charge it, that's all." I say. Gale's still in the background, listening to every word I say.

"Why were you texting Rue so late?" Mom asks.

"Honey, ease up." I hear Christian shout in the background.

"I'm a mother, I have rights to be worried." She shouts back playfully.

"I was texting her because I lost six pounds." I say smiling. Anyone would know I'm smiling at telling her this.

"Honey, that's great!" Mom says. "How long has it been?"

"Two weeks." I say. "Oh, I forgot about the other two I lost when I went from vegetarian to vegan, so that's eight pounds all together." She squeals.

"Okay, you're excused from late night texting." Mom says. "So, do you need new clothing, because your father and I can send some money if you do."

"Not yet," I say raking a hand though my hair. Yegh, I need to shower. "I've mostly just been tightening my belts and tucking in shirts. I've already got two that absolutely swallow me. I might need clothes in about a week or so, but I can manage. I'll be getting birthday things anyways; giftcards clothing and whatnot, so I'll let you know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes mom, I'll be fine. Worst case scenario I'll borrow oversized shirts from Peeta when he comes and wear them as dresses. maybe I'll start a new trend." I joke.

"Okay, Delly." Mom sighs. "Your grandmother is going through chemo tomorrow and with the predicted recovery, your father and I should be back in time for the final dress fittings so I can see the finished product." I smile.

"Send her my love." I say. "I'll email you a picture as soon as I have my first fitting."

"I love you Delly."

"I love you too Mom. Tell Dad too. Bye."

"Bye sweetie." I hang up. Gale's leaning against the door frame.

"Why are you still here?" I ask.

"You've lost almost ten pounds then?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say. He shrugs.

"What fittings are you going to?"

"Bridesmaid dress. For my brother's wedding."

"Isn't it usually easier to plan months ahead?"

"This is going to be a small backyard wedding." I say. "Very simple and quick."

"Interesting." Gale says. He leaves the room, then the house and doesn't come back until late in the night. I've never noticed, but he's done this before. I only remember because they were nights when I didn't cry.

The next day I confront him.

"Where have you been going every night?" I ask. Hazelle's at work, Rory's out with friends, Posy's at a playdate, and Vick is skateboarding. I never realized how often we have the house to ourselves.

"It's none of your business blondie." Gale says. "Even if you are my savior."

"I'm not your savior." I spit. "But I'd _like _to be your friend. Because I care about you, I care about people in general. If you tell me I won't tell anyone. But if it's serious, I will make you get help."

"Who are you, the fucking guidance counselor?" He asks annoyed.

"No. But I will tell Hazelle something's going on if you don't tell me." I threaten. Gale's eyes widen. He sighs.

"Haven't the hangovers been enough of a clue?" I don't say anything. "Or am I that good at covering it up? Most guys like beer, but for me, it's wine. I like to pair it with morphine. It's expensive, but very calming."

"You're an alcoholic." It's a statement, not a question.

"Yep." Gale says. "You can go sign me up for whatever you want now. I don't give a shit anymore."

* * *

One day later I'm driving Gale to a group therapy session at the local community center.

"You don't have to drive me here." He growls. Aviator glasses glare at me. "I'm not ten."

"Then act like it." I spit. "You went through something out there. I don't want to help you, and just want you to be okay again."

" 'Okay'? That's a lie." Gale scoffs. "That's not going to happen. Not after what I saw, and when I saw it." I say nothing. I get out of the truck. He doesn't. I walk over to his side and open the door. He looks at me.

"Please don't make me do something that will make you hate me even more." I beg. He looks at me confused.

"I don't hate you." He says honestly. "I just don't want to go in."

"Gale, please." I say. He sighs.

"It's kind of sad, I don't want to go in because I'm afraid no one will like me." Gale says. "You'd think I'm too old to throw up on the first day of school. But it could happen." He smiles at this, so I do too.

"You don't have to go alone." I say holding out my hand. "I'll go with you." Gale looks at my hand and takes it. We go inside and up the elevator to the second floor. I find room 223 without trouble. When we walk in the room, I can see that we're the youngest ones here. I see a woman with a name tag that reads MADGE and walk over to her.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She asks. She's like a prettier version of me. Her hair is a golden blonde and her eyes are ice blue. Being me, I notice her thin frame and thin hourglass figure. _Yes, I'd like you to tell me how you look so nice in a simple white dress and gold hair ribbon. You're probably 20 and you're still wearing hair ribbons, but it looks_ good_ on you.__ Also, where did you get your lipgloss?_

"I'm here for the... thing." Gale said stepping forward. Madge smiles.

"The session?" She asks. He nods. "I'm afraid that unless your girlfriend is also a nurse or aid of some sort, she'll have to leave." It takes me a second to process this.

"Oh! No, I'm not his girlfriend." I say quickly.

"Yeah, I'm single." Gale says. _Geeze, Gale. Make it obvious why don't you?_

"Oh." She says smiling and twirling an already perfectly curled piece of hair around her finger. _Really Madge, you too?_

"And, we have an arrangement." Gale says. "Surely you could let her stay?" He stares her down with her dark brows drawing together above his gray stormy eyes. Madge flutters her eyelashes and blushes perfectly.

"Well, she can stay." She says. "You two can have a seat. We'll be starting soon." I sit in one of the chairs in a circle formation. Gale sits next to me.

"Can you believe that she thought we were dating?" He asks.

"No." I say. "It's illegal for us to date anyways. I'm a minor."

"Yeah." Gale says. Madge takes a seat and everyone else in the circle looks at her.

"Hello everyone, I'm Madge and welcome to 'Kicking Addictions'." She says smiling.

"Great," Gale whispers to me. "they gave this a stupid name. And I was beginning to like it here." I look at Madge, then at him.

"I can't imagine why." I retort.

"Let's start by-" She's cut off by the door opening and a man walking in. He's got shaggy dark hair and gray eyes.

"Is this the addictions class?" He asks.

"Yes." Madge says. "You can take a seat."

"Aren't you a little young to be running _this_ class?" He asks after sitting.

"Aren't you a little late to _my_ class?" She shoots back. _Madge: 1 Hungover Guy: 0_

"Nice way of avoiding my question sweetheart." He says with a smirk. _Madge: 1 Hungover Guy: 1_

"I'm nineteen, my father is the mayor." Madge says. "He knew this class needed a new supervisor and I'm in college studying to be a therapist. Things worked out." _BOOM! Madge: 6 Hungover Guy: 1_

"For you." He responds. "Things aren't so hot for me. If they were, I wouldn't be here would I?" _OH SNAP! Madge: 6 Hungover Guy: 11_

"But that's why I'm here to help." Madge says. Her voice kicks into 'therapist' mode. "Each of you are here because there's an addiction you'd like to get rid of."

"Or someone dragged you here." Gale hisses into my ear.

"But let's focus on the root of the problem, you're here for a reason and I'm going to help you find that reason." She smiles. "Let's start by going around. Say your name and your addiction. No passes, and be honest. What happens in this room, stays in this room." Madge looks at the middle-aged guy with blue eyes and neatly combed and shaved black hair next to her.

"I'm Seneca Crane, my wife thinks I have a drinking problem." He says. Then the guy next to him.

"I'm Edgar Chaffman, but most people call me Chaff. I'm an alcoholic." He says slowly.

"My name is Johanna Mason and I have a lot of problems." The girl next to him says. Johanna rakes a hand through her spiky brown hair before beginning. "I'm addicted to cigarettes, but I like to watch porn too. I watch porn because I'm also slightly addicted to sex. Then again, who isn't?"

"Amen." The hungover guy shouts. Johanna smiles as Madge uncomfortably shifts in her chair. The hungover guy stands up.

"My name is Haymitch Abernathy," He says in a bored tone. "and I have a drinking problem." He's sitting two chairs away from Gale who goes next.

"Gale Hawthorne." He says. He points at me. "_She_ made me come here because I like morphine. Sometimes I have it with wine."

"I-I-I-" I stutter.

"She's an angel." Gale says staring at me. "There's absolutely _nothing_ wrong with Delilah fucking Cartwright."

"It's Delly." I mumble quietly.

"Okay then," Madge says slowly. "Gale, why is Delly here with you, if you don't mind sharing." Gale sighs for at least a minute.

"I've recently returned from Pakistan after fighting for three years." He begins. Only Seneca and Madge seem effected by this. Chaff keeps his arms crossed. Johanna raises and eyebrow and Haymitch seems to barely be listening. "Something happened out there and I'm not going to talk about it. Only my mom knows. My mom and my best friend Finnick- he fought with me too. Upon coming back, _she _was in my house." Gale says pointing at me. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy now and my mother has the theroy that Delly is going to save me. So while her parents are out of town she's staying at my house playing naughty nurse to phsycho ward patient 223608: G. Hawthorne."

"I spent five years in Afghanistan." Chaff says staring at the floor. "I came back last year. After seeing what you see out there- there's no going back." He holds up his right arm, no hand, just a stump. "I lost this hand, they don't have a prosthetic for me. I had friends, some of them died out there, others took their own lives after coming back. The rest, I lost contact with. I don't know what to do with myself. So whatever money I have I use to buy alcohol. Because then I can forget."

"Same here." Haymitch says.

"Yeah." Seneca says. "When I do drink, I drink a lot. Because if I am drinking, it's because there's too much of one emotion happening at once. Like I'm a time bomb and the drinks are delaying the detonation."

"I just drink because I can." Haymitch says. _That's not true. You agreed with Chaff on drinking to forget problems._

"True dat." Johanna says.

"Are you sure?" Madge asks with puppy dog eyes.

"Yes." Johanna says. She smirks as Madge is taken aback.

"Well, I think that was very good for our first meeting. Same time next week everyone." Madge says glancing at the clock. Gale gets out of his seat and dashes out the door. Chaff stops me on my way out.

"Are you scared?" He asks me.

"No." I say. "I just want to help him. Gale's lost, I don't know if I can help him, but I'm going to try because I care about him."

"God bless you Delly." Chaff says blinking tears away. "I was under the impression you two were together, but clearly I was wrong. Don't push too hard, otherwise you push him away."

"Thank-you." I say. "Chaff, thank-you for serving." He smiles.

"I don't hear that enough." He says. "Thanks." He walks out. Johanna smiles at me.

"What?" I ask. She laughs.

"How old are you?" She asks.

"Seventeen tomorrow." I say.

"Do the math Delly." Johanna says. "I watch a lot of porn and you're living in a house with a 21-year-old hot guy who has a drinking problem and most likely has some lonely nights. I have a filthy mind, you don't want to know what I'm thinking."

* * *

**Yay! Haymitch comes in to play! And I added Johanna because I wanted her in this and she seems like the type to have... addiction problems. So now Madge is here? BUT THIS IS A GALLY FIC! WTF? I guess we'll have to see what happens...**

**Please review. Reviews help Gale talk about his problems and then we find out what the hell happened to him out there. Oh, reviews are also jet fuel and gasoline for the characters at college coming home. (And I'm a review whore.)**


	8. Chapter 8 Homecoming and the Minivan

**Welcome back y'all. I hope you liked the last chapter. There's a little "action" in this, so I hope you enjoy it. Also, more on the Gale/Madge situation. BUT THIS IS A GALLY FIC!? Well then, we'll just have to see how this goes...**

* * *

Chapter 8- Homecoming and the Minivan

I close my book and put it back on the shelf. Rue met me here a few hours ago and we've read books on acting. So far, I think that I might be able to do this one play. From what Marvel's been telling me, Clove is great at directing. Posy runs up to me.

"Delly, are you almost done?" She asks. Rue looks up from her book. "Mom says that we're going to leave in fifteen minutes."

"Okay." I say. "Tell her that I'm just going to check out."

"Mmm hmm." Posy says running off.

"Is it just me, or did the little girl from Despicable Me get grey colored contacts and changer her name to Posy?" Rue asks. I smile.

"I've had the same theory." I say. "Come on, I need to get some books on LSD." The two of us head over to the non-fiction section and I check my paper for the call number I wrote. I reach for the book, but it's too high up. Before I can get a stool Gale materializes and grabs the book for me..

" 'LSD: Psychedelic Effects.' Nice choice." He says.

"It's for research." I say. Gale smiles and hands it to me. I look at his book choice, _The Old Man and The Sea_. "You a fan of Ernest Hemingway?"

"Yeah." Gale says. He looks at Rue. "Who is this?"

"This is my friend Rue." I say. "Rue, Gale. Gale, Rue."

"Hi." Rue says making a small wave of her hand.

"Does she know?" Gale asks.

"Yeah." I say. Gale nods his head, as if I have his approval. I walk over to the check-out desk with my book.

"He's cute." Rue whispers when he's out of ear-shot.

"Don't say that, I'm living with him." I groan.

"Fine." Rue says. "He's _hot_. Gale is HOT. He is sooo sexy."

"Rue!" I almost-shout.

"Whatever, but you can't deny it either." She says. "That is one good-looking man." I smile at this at least. "See, you smiled and you're not denying it!"

"Okay, you win." I say. Gale walks over and Rue bursts into laughter. "She's immature." I say. "I'm going to wait outside."

"I'll go with you, that girl over there can't take a hint." He says pointing at a fake-blonde with a spray tan checking out a romance novel with a half-naked man holding America's Next Top Model in his arms on he cover. She bites her lip and smiles. "Go." Gale says pushing us out the door. Rue sits on a bench and soaks in the sunlight. I tip my head back and run my fingers through my hair. When I open my eyes I see a dark blue SUV turning into a parking space. I squint for a half-second and Rue squeals.

"Clove!" She shrieks running over. I scream and run after her. Clove and Marvel get out of the front and Cato gets out of the backseat. They walk towards us and all five of us meet somewhere in the middle. Marvel and Clove both hug Rue and I run straight into Cato and he picks me up spinning me around.

"Oh my gosh, you guys are back!" Rue says. Clove smiles.

"Yeah, we wanted to see you guys. I asked Thresh where you were and we came here." She says.

"So are we the first ones back?" Marvel asks.

"Yeah." I say. "I'm so happy you guys are here!"

"Hey there Delilah, you've lost weight." Clove says.

"Ten pounds today." I say sticking my hands in the pockets of my brand-new size 5 shorts. All three of them shriek.

"You look great." Marvel says.

"Hey man, don't hit on my babe." Cato says. He turns to me. "Hey babe, I missed you." He grabs my hand and stares into my eyes.

"I missed you too babe." I say smiling. When Peeta first introduced me to his friends Cato said, 'She looks like Marylin Monroe.' A few weeks later the school play required a kiss. Being a newbie stage crew member I asked Cato how it was done. After rehearsal when only stage crew was left he had Peeta lower a sunset backdrop, Marvel cue a spotlight on us, and showed me how the hand placement and head tilting made it look real. Clove even turned on a giant fan and everyone made a big joke about it later. From there on it was always a joke that Cato and I were "dating" behind Peeta's back.

"Babe." Cato says.

"Babe." I say back pressing my forehead against his.

"Babe."

"Babe."

"Babe."

"Babe."

"Babe."

"Cato."

"Delly."

"Kiss me." I say. Cato dips me back and uses my book to cover our faces. Clove takes a picture and Rue cheers.

"You manwhore!" Marvel shouts.

"I'm posting this." Clove says. All of us laugh and Clove hugs me.

"I'm so glad that you guys haven't changed." She says.

"Really?" Marvel asks. "I'm surprised that they survived without us."

"Yeah." Cato says crossing his arms. "My babe has completely lost herself as you can see." He says motioning towards me. We all laugh and Gale comes over.

"Delly, we need to leave now." He says grabbing my arm. His grip is tight, but I act natural.

"Okay." I say calmly as possible. "Sorry guys, I've got to go, but maybe we can meet up for coffee or something soon?"

"Yeah." Clove says. Everyone is trying not to stare at Gale, or his hand on my arm. "We've got to talk about the play anyways. I'll text you later tonight."

"Okay." I say. "Bye guys." I look at Cato who seems to be coming out of it. "Bye babe."

"I'll send you pictures babe." He says smirking. I smile and Gale tugs me back to the car.

"Ow." I say quietly when I'm sure that they won't hear me. Gale keeps walking. "Gale, stop it you're hurting my arm." I say. He keeps pulling me along until we reach the car. Rather than sitting up front, Gale pushes me to the back and sits as close to me as possible. The others are just getting in line for check-out. "What the hell is your problem?" I snap.

"My problem?" Gale asks. "I didn't take my antidepressants this morning, but other than that, nothing."

"Those were my friends back there, most of which have just come back from college." I say.

"What was that?" He asks. "With the guy."

"That was a stage kiss." I say. "It's an inside joke."

"So you're not dating him?" Gale asks. His eyes are impossibly grey.

"No. Cato's my friend." I say.

"Good." He says. I don't bother to ask. When Hazelle opens her door Gale takes her book bag and places it next to him. Rory takes shotgun and Posy sits in her carseat. When Vick comes to sit by Gale he says, "No room back here. Sorry little bro'."

"Just move the book bag." Vick says. Gale pushes into me, my bare leg comes into contact with his jeans. Even through the fabric I can feel heat, and lots of it.

"There's no room." Gale repeats. Vick sits down next to Posy. I shift uncomfortably and Gale presses his arm against mine. His jaw clenches in a way that's completely hot. I look down and blush. Hazelle starts the car when everyone is buckled in. Everyone but me and Gale. He takes his seat belt and clicks it into place, brushing his fingers against my thigh in the process. He grabs my seatbelt and buckles it for me. I look out the window and I can feel his gaze resting on me. The trip back to the house seems twice as long as before and Gale keeps pressing into me. Half of me is having orgasm, the other half feels raped. Hazelle looks at us in her rearview mirror. A lump forms in my throat and Gale presses into me again. My hipbone collides harshly with the side of the car and I wince, ever so slightly. Gale pulls back a little. Then we come to a round-about. Guess which way we turn? Gale's practically falling on me when he grips my knee, then my thigh to stop from falling over. His hand is cold, and goosebumps raise on my skin. His face comes too close and his hot breath sends a shiver down my spine and my hair brushes against his face. Even when we're driving normal again, Gale doesn't move his hand. When we pull into driveway Gale hands the bag of books to Vick who carries them inside. Gale stays put. I unbuckle the seat belt and try sliding past Gale. I trip over his foot and fall onto his lap.

"So eager Delly, aren't you?" He asks. I scoff, getting off him. Gale takes off his seatbelt. "You could've been just a _tad_ more discreet."

"I'm not into you!" I shout. "Even if I was, I know it wouldn't happen." This isn't a very fun position. The roof of the minivan isn't tall enough for me and I have to crouch a little.

"Why's that?" Gale presses.

"Because, you're into Madge." I say.

"Yeah, so?" He asks. I stare at him. "Just because I like a girl, doesn't mean I wouldn't date another girl if I were into her too. Not that I'm into you."

"Once again, neither am I." I state.

"Okay then." Gale says. He pushes past me and I crawl over the seat to get past him. Gale tries opening the door, only to find that it's locked. He flips the switch and tried opening it again. I sit on the seat behind him waiting for it to open.

"Today would be nice." I say.

"I'm trying, it's been awhile since I've been in this car." Gale says.

"Let me." I say say standing up. At the same time Gale opens the door and turns around. We crash into each other and he falls on top of me and I land on the seat. "Now who needs to be discreet?" I ask.

"Oh, like you aren't enjoying this." He says.

"I'm not!" I say trying to get up, but it's impossible. "I need you to get off me."

"I am!" Gale says. "Just give me a-"

"Wow, if you guys wanted to be alone, you could've said so." Gale turns his head and I look over his shoulder to see Rory staring at us.

"It's not how it looks." Gale says getting off me and out of the car. I sit up.

"That's what they all say." Rory says smirking. "Not that I blame you, Delly's hot."

"And too old for you." Gale snaps. He holds out his hand. "Come on your highness." I take his hand and hop out of the car. He leads me into his room.

"Seriously, what is your problem?" I ask. Gale shrugs.

"I dunno." He says.

"You were all over me in the car and usually you can't say more than two words to me." I snap. He shrugs again.

"Adrenaline rush I guess." Gale says. "All these women are into me, I like Madge and I can't really do anything yet. You're a good-looking female who is single and I guess that I just took it out on you."

"So I'm your sex doll?" I ask.

"In short terms, yes Dr. Cartwright." He says. I sigh and leave the room.


	9. Chapter 9 Foxface Returns

**Hey, this one is kind of short, but I typed it on Heather (my iPod) so I deserve some credit. Feel free to point out any typos, I'll fix them, but blame spellcheck. I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

* * *

_Lights will guide you home_

_And ignite your bones_

_And__ I will try to fix you_

Coldplay, Fix You

* * *

Chapter 9- Foxface Returns

Glimmer returned from UCLA two days after Clove, Marvel, and Cato; two days after the incident in the minivan. Rory smiled at me all the time now, and Hazelle kept setting me up to talk to Gale. But we both found ways to weasel put of it. My birthday had passed with a vegan cupcake and lots of money and clothes. I haven't lost any weight since my dramatic ten-pound-drop. Thresh keeps telling me that because muscle weighs more than fat, I'd lost my fat and now it was being converted into muscle so nothing was happening. But my waist was still the same, that's all I can think about.

I woke up later than usual, half past eleven. No one else was in the house, not even Gale. I head into the bathroom and begin the toothbrush singing routine I've missed so much. The song is Peacock by Katy Perry and I smile to myself. I start out at least attempting to sing, but halfway the though the song I'm just screaming it and having a full out dance-spaz.

"I wanna see your peacock-cock-cock-cock your peacock-cock!" I shout. "Your-"

"You do know what that song is about right?" _When did he get here?! _Gale stares at me in the mirror like I've been singing in Japanese. I do my best not to smile and whip around to face him.

"It's about a princess who meets a man with a magical bird who is so pretty she wants to see it. But he won't let her." I smile after saying this. His face is priceless. I roll my eyes. "Gale, I'm not five. The song is pea_cock_. It's about-"

"We're good." He says cutting me off. I giggle as he walks away mumbling to himself. I twist my bangs into my hair and clip it into place. I grab a pair of black shorts and a lacy white tank top, enjoying my new clothes. I walk into the kitchen where Gale eats his breakfast.

"Where is everybody?" I ask sitting across from him.

"Rory has a soccer game someplace a few hours away." Gale says. "Vick wanted to go with and my mom needed me to take Posy to dance class. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that she wants me to pour out my soul to you."

"We have the class tomorrow." I say changing the subject. "You get to see Madge again." Gale raises an eyebrow.

"Is it that obvious?" He asks. I nod.

"She likes you too." I add. "Ask her out." Gale shakes his head.

"It's not that simple." He says. I cock my head to the side. I reach out and grab his hand.

"Why?" He doesn't pull back.

"Because."

"Because what?"

"You'd have to understand me to know." Gale says after a long pause.

"This is why your mom keeps setting us up." I say releasing my fingers. I hear a car horn and I peek out the window. White convertible with the top down, Glimmer. I get up to grab my purse.

"Where are you going?" Gale asks suddenly concerned.

"Felecia is coming back today. Cato, Glimmer, Clove, Marvel, Rue, Thresh, and I are picking her up at the airport." I say loudly from my room.

"How many friends do you have?" Gale asks. I come back into the kitchen and look at him.

"After my brother and Katniss come home, they'll all be here. They are going to be bombarded with wedding questions." I say. "I have to go now." Gale grabs my arm.

"Katniss? Katniss Everdeen?" He asks. I nod. "She's getting married to your step-brother?"

"Yeah." I say turning towards the door. Gale tightens his grip. Glimmer honks the horn again. "What is it?" Gale lets to of my arm and places his hand on the wall next to my head. I back up slightly.

"I want to tell you." He says softly. I am hypnotized by his grey orbs, I can't look away. I gulp slowly and take a deep breath.

"Then tell me." I say looking down and breaking the spell. Gale leans in closely and I think he's about to whisper in my ear, but he doesn't. "Just tell me, I'll believe you." I say. The horn honks again, long and agitated. Gale reclines and sighs. I turn to leave but he pins my shoulder to the wall. "I have to-"

"Wait, please." There's a pleading in his voice that I've never heard before. I hold my breath as his hand moves from my shoulder, to my collar bone, to my jaw, to my chin; tilting it up so I have to look him in eye again. "Delly, please." He leans in again and my eyes flutter shut. There's a knock at the door and Gale's jaw clenches, but he doesn't move.

"Delly?" Another knock, I can tell Glimmer's angry. Gale turns to me and begins speaking.

"When I was-" The door opens.

"Delly, what the hell? I've been out here for the last- What's going on here ?" Glimmer's voice goes from pissed to interested in one second.

"Nothing." Gale and I say at the same time looking down. Glimmer smirks.

"Well, I'll be in the car." She says. "Meet me when you're ready." Glimmer flips her pink-framed sunglasses over her eyes and walks away. Gale turns to me again.

"I'll tell you another time." He whispers.

"You can tell me now-"

"Just go." Gale cuts me off. I walk out the door and down the path leading to the driveway. I hop over the door and buckle myself in. Glimmer smiles at me from behind her huge sunglasses.

"Who was that?" She asks. I roll my eyes.

"Just drive." I say. Glimmer puts the keys in the ignition and goes into reverse. I look up and catch one last glimpse of Gale standing the doorframe with his arms over his chest.

Glimmer can be snarky and slutty, but I still like her. After my breakup with Austin, she was there for me. But Clove could barely be in the same room as Glimmer after all the times she played yo-yo with Cato's heart, no matter how many times he'd said it was fine.

"So you're living with him alone?" Glimmer asks when we're on the highway and I've explained everything to her.

"Not exactly, but basically, yes." I say. "His mom, two brothers, and sister are in the house, but they're gone most of the time. Gale's mom wants us to talk. Something happened to him. He was going to tell me, then you walked in on us."

"The first part of that isn't true and you know it." Glimmer says smirking. She looks like either an advertisement or a Barbie doll with her hair whipping behind her and those sunglasses.

"It's true!" I say in a high pitched voice. I do that when I'm in denial. Glimmer laughs.

"You looked like you were about to kiss and when you both looked down, I swear-" She looks at me when she says this. "He was looking at your lips." I run my fingers through my hair and let the wind sweep it back.

"Nah. There's another girl he really likes. We're four years apart anyways." I say. "Unless this is porn it's not gonna happen."

"If you say so." Glimmer trails off.

"Get it out of your head Glim'!" I shout. She laughs. I stare into space and half pay attention to her as she talks about why she bought a white convertible rather than a powder blue one.

"Yeah." I say when she's finished. "Plus with the sun out all the time, it must be nice to have a car that reflects heat instead of absorbs it." Glimmer nods and we get off the freeway.

"So Peeta's marrying Katniss then?" She asks at a red light. I nod. "Oh, I have the perfect dress to wear..." We lurch forward and pull into the airport. I catch sight of Clove's dark hair piled on her head in a bun and she waves is over.

"What took you so long?" Rue asks.

"She was about to get kissed, but I cock-blocked and ruined everything." Glimmer says.

"WHAT?" Cato asks running over and putting his arm around my waist. "Who was flirting with my babe?"

"Gale." Glimmer says smirking. Cato raises an eyebrow.

"I see." He says smiling. I roll my eyes and stand by Clove.

"Was he really going to kiss you?" She asks holding Marvel's hand. I shrug.

"He was about to tell me something important." Is all I say. I look up and see my vixen friend.

"Foxy!" Cato calls running over. He hugs her and picks her up, spinning her around; the same way he did to me. Foxface drops her purse and squeals.

"Felicia!" Rue shouts and I run after her. Then all of us compact into one big group hug.

"Wow. I didn't know you guys missed me that much!" She says after we pull away. Her hair falls around her face perfectly and she wears jean shorts and a pale blue loosely-knitted sweater.

"So how was New York?" I ask.

"Beautiful, for the first two months." Foxface says. "Then I noticed all the homeless guys, pollution, litter..."

"But?" Marvel cuts her off.

"It really was great." She admits. "I got so much inspiration, and there were open mic nights everywhere. And yes Thresh, they snapped when I finished each poem." All of us laugh and look at him.

"So what do you want to do?" Clove asks.

"I've got horrid jet-lag so..." Foxface trails off.

"Coffee?" Cato asks. We all laugh again.

"Yeah." She says smiling. We help her get her things from baggage claim and head over to Laurie's, our old hideaway. We talk for hours about my weight loss, college parties, crazy stories, and Peeta's wedding. But the star of the conversation is Clove's play.

"Oh, I asked my mom and she said that as long as Cashmere's gets an ad in the program, she'll do hair, costumes, and makeup." Glimmer says. I smile this, Glimmer's mom is the fairy godmother we need for this play (pun intended).

"So we've got Brutus, Cato, Thresh, and Gloss making the sets and Cashmere taking care of costuming. Oh, don't we have our first practice tomorrow. Then again on Thursday. Depending on how things go, we might add more than Tuesday and Thursday practices. Wow. This is really coming together!" Clove says happily.

"Of course it is. You're in charge." Marvel says kissing her cheek. It makes me think about Gale... Oh shoot, Gale.

"I'm really sorry guys, but I have to go." I say. I need to talk to him.

"I can give you a ride." Cato says standing up.

"Would you mind if I came too?" Foxface says. "I told my parents I'd be back by 10:30. I'm in college and I still have a curfew." She laughs.

"Sure." Cato says. "C'mon babe, Foxy." We both follow him out to the red car. The ride is silent and Cato keeps looking in the rear view mirror. We drop off Foxface first. After she leaves Cato turns to me.

"Babe, can I tell you something?" He asks. I nod. "I like Felicia. I have for awhile now."

"Ask her to Peeta's wedding." I say.

"You're a genius babe." He says smiling. I return his smile. We drive to the Hawthornes' house and I thank Cato for the ride. Gale is sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me.

"Hi." He says.

"Hey." I reply. "So...?"

"So." He says. "Your bother's getting married."

"Yeah, I have a dress fitting next week as soon as he gets back and after therapy tomorrow I have play practice." I say.

"Aren't you a social butterfly?" Gale asks bitterly. I don't know what to say. "Anything else?"

"Nope." I say slowly. I sit down. "What were you going to tell me before?"

"Nothing." Gale says.

"I came back early, just so you could tell me." I say. "You were so desperate for me to know before and now you're back to hating me."

"Stop saying that! I don't hate you." Gale says. "I hate myself. I-" He breaks off and places his head on the table and I walk over to him. Gale looks up and hugs me, I'm taken aback. He's never done this before. All I can do is clutch the fabric of his shirt tightly. I start crying. Gale looks at me.

"Sorry." I say wiping my eyes.

"You're apologizing for crying?" He asks. I laugh.

"Yeah, I guess so." I say.

"You don't need to." Gale says. "I'll tell you another time. Go to sleep Delly, you've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"Yeah." I mumble. "You should go to bed too. Madge will find you attractive either way, but I think it's safer to show up without dark circles under your eyes." Gale chuckles at this.

"Delly, you're such a dork." He says smiling. Gale exits the kitchen and leaves me alone. I look in the sink and see an empty glass. I dip my pinkie into the dark red liquid at the bottom to prove what I already thought. I check the fridge and sure enough, the old bottle has been replaced with a new one. But when I check the new bottle, it hasn't been opened. The one that was in there earlier had barely enough for two glasses. _He's drinking less. _I check the garbage. Empty pack of cigarettes. _But his smoking is the same._ I have no way of monitoring Gale's level of morphine intake, but I keep tabs on everything else. I sigh and go to my room. After changing into a pair of cloth shorts and cami I try reading a book to fall asleep. I hear a soft knock at my door. Gale opens it.

"Umm, I just wanted to say..." He trails off. "I know what you were doing. And nobody else does that. Not even my mom. I think she has difficulty knowing how to deal with me. I just wanted to say thanks. I didn't think you cared." I smile. "Well, good-night Delly."

That night, neither if us cries.


	10. Chapter 10 Delly's Confession

**Hello my darling Gally shippers, come hither and read my filler chapter. I despise fillers, but this one has important stuff in it. You'll see...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games; if I did, Gally wouldn't be a crackship, it would be a cannon. **

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_"Please_

_I know that we're different_

_ But we were one cell in the sea in the beginning_

_And what were made of,_

_Was all the same once_

_We're not that different after all"_

A Fine Frenzy, The Minnow & the Trout

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Chapter 10- Delly's Confession

Showering is something I used to take for granted. Not anymore. I can't use up too much hot water, and I need to leave enough shampoo for others. When my parents come back, the first thing I'm doing when I get home, is taking a long hot shower. My showers at the Hawthrones' have been short and lukewarm. If I want a hot shower, I have to wake up at 6:00 sharp and be in the bathroom by 6:05. While everyone is still asleep, my alarm goes off at six. I head straight into the bathroom, strip down, and turn the water as hot as it goes. Gale and I have group therapy 10-11:30 and then I have play practice from noon until Clove decides we've done enough. I sigh for a long time and let my breath intermingle with the steam rising from the water. I turn my head down and watch peach-scented bubbles go down the drain. Then I tip my head back and close my eyes. At least Peeta's coming back on Sunday. I shut the water off and grab my towel wrapping it over my chest. It barely comes above my knees. I run a comb through my hair and fend off gingivitis with my magic toothbrush. I blowout my hair, I haven't worn it straight in awhile. What the heck? I walk out into the hallway. Gale's door opens and he rubs his eyes.

"Morning." I say causally. He looks up and does a double-take.

"You're naked under that towel." He says.

"You're naked under your clothes." I say. Gale shrugs and I walk into my room. I find a pair of jeans, once skinny. I tuck an over-sized shirt into it hoping that it helps fill out where my waist used to. It's not that I want to get rid of my clothes, I just don't want to spend a ton of money on clothes that might not fit after my next workout. I slip a belt through my pants so they don't fall down. Gale's making coffee in the kitchen when I enter.

"You want any?" He asks. I shrug.

"Sure." I say. He adds an extra scoop of coffee to the filter. "Wait, pour the creamer into the bottom of the pot instead of mixing it in later." I say. Gale looks at me strangely, but obeys. When it's finished brewing and he takes a sip.

"Wow." He says. "Where'd you pick the trick up?"

"Peeta." I say. "We took cooking classes together and I learned a lot of little quirks from him."

"Cool." Gale says. He glances at the clock. "We have to go."

"Already?" I ask setting down my mug. He nods gulping the rest of his coffee. I walk to the door and Gale stops me. We're in the exact spot we were yesterday.

"I believe this is where we left off." He says quietly. I look down awkwardly. Gale tilts my chin up again. "No, _this_ is where we were yesterday." I blink at him.

"Yeah." I say stupidly.

"You have really pretty eyes." Gale says.

"Thanks." I say numbly. He wraps one arm around my waist, then the other. He presses into me again. Why am I so Goddamn short compared to him? I'm basically looking straight up just to see his eyes. My spine hits the wall but Gale still moves forward, closing off the almost-non-existent space that separated us. He's just using you. I tell myself. He admitted it. You're nothing more than a sex doll. But part of me wants it to be real. Gale's hand touches the small of my back and I involuntarily lean into him. Taking the opportunity , Gale slides his hands into the back pockets of my jeans. Then just as quickly, pulls them out. Gale dangles the keys to the truck in front of my face.

"I'm driving." He says with a smirk. I blink, still trying to process what just happened. "Didn't think I go to such lengths to pull the keys out of your back pocket, did you Cartwright?"

"You're such a player." I grumble. "Don't make me convince Madge you're no good."

"That's fair game." Gale says. "But I'm still driving." He takes my hand and leads me out to the truck slamming the door after I hop in. He gets in and starts driving. Gale grips the steering wheel tightly and his eyes lock on the road. Even when he's just driving, the man looks gorgeous. I play around with the radio until Gale grabs my hand stopping me. He adjusts until coming across a station playing The Lumineers.

"What happened to The Black Keys?" I ask.

"They're good." Gale says. "But I mostly prefer slightly country-rock groups. Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Civil Wars."

"Cool." I say. Gale pulls into the community center and we head to room 223. Everyone else is there. Gale goes and talks to Chaff and Haymitch. Johanna motions me over towards her and Seneca.

"Hey there Delilah." She says. "Has Lt. Hottie-Thorne tapped that yet?" She points my butt.

"He's a sergeant." I say. Seneca raises an eyebrow. "Well, he kind of did this morning." I explain the situation to them. I feel like I can trust Johanna, there's a raw goodness to her. She's blunt, but has personality.

"So you're his dildo now?" Johanna asks.

"I guess so." I say.

"What does he see in Madge though?" Seneca asks. Johanna and I are both shocked to hear him actually speaking.

"She's pretty." I say.

"So are rainbows." Johanna sneers.

"Madge seems like she cares." I say.

"But she acts superior." Johanna says. "She's not trying, but she's too fluffy. Her life is easy. Madge doesn't know shit about hardships." The blonde goddess enters the room dressed like teacher Barbie, complete with a cotton-candy pink button up, a khaki pencil skirt, nude heels, hair pulled back, and "I'm smart and pretty" glasses. She sits and the rest of us do the same, like some silent game of Simon Says. Gale sits next to me again. Madge looks down at her clipboard. She writes something down and then holds it up for us to see.

" 'FAMILY'. " Madge says. "It means something different to all of us, but what does it mean to you?" I think about it. "Would anyone like to start?"

"Both of my parents died when I was twelve. That's when I cut my hair." Johanna says. "I got this the night it happened." She rolls up her sleeve and shows us a tattoo of a tree. "My dad was a lumberjack and The Giving Tree was his favorite book to read to me. My aunt raised me and after I graduated high school she moved to Vegas. I went to a technical college for awhile. That's when I started smoking and giving out one night stands like candy on Halloween. I've just been drifting around I guess. But that's where it started. There's no one left I love."

"I had a regular family." Chaff says. "My life was normal, that's what made me enlist. I wanted to do something special, something different. Now I just push my family away."

"Same here. Single mom, three younger brothers. They think I messed up and they're scared of me." Haymitch says. "After my girl left me, I figured that I did something wrong. So I started drinking to drown my sorrows. How 'bout you Pretty Boy?" He asks Gale.

"Gale?" Madge asks. He says nothing. Just stares into space. "Please, you're the only one-"

"I know that I'm not really addicted to anything like you guys are, but I can still relate." I interrupt. Gale looks at me. "My dad took my younger brother and left my mom and me when I was twelve. He never really paid attention to me anyways... My mom remarried and I got the best step brother in the world. He's getting married in August and I couldn't be more happy for him. My dad never does anything to stay in contact with us. He's got a twenty-something year old wife now, he's replaced us."

"How do you know if he doesn't keep in contact?" Haymitch asks. I look down.

"There's this thing..." I mumble.

"What happens here stays in here." Madge says.

"Tell us." Johanna says.

"My dad sends money." I say. They're all staring at me. "Like, _lots_ of money. I was in my mom's room once and I found a check on her dresser."

"How much?" Gale asks.

"Ten thousand dollars." I say. Johanna whistles. "He sends a check every three months. Four times a year. It keeps us comfortable, I mean, my dad's bakery makes enough for us to live. But my phone, laptop, stuff like that... I don't know if I'd have it without him."

"At least you know he cares." Madge says. I scoff.

"Not really, he's doing it out of pity. Like he can just throw money at his problems and they'll go away. I almost wish he wouldn't send the money. I'd take a letter in the mail or a conversation with him over it any day." I say. "I asked my mom if I could ever talk to him and she bought me an iPhone. I guess it was her way of saying that was the closest I would ever come to talking to him. I love my step dad and brother, but I still wonder." Gale stares at me. Madge adjusts her glasses. "I don know if being raised without a dad effected me, but-"

"I grew up without my dad too." Gale cuts me off. "He was killed by a drunk driver- how pathetically ironic. My mom was a real working class hero. Still is. I joined the army because I knew I couldn't go to college. We weren't rich enough and I'm not smart enough for a scholarship. My mom has trouble knowing how to deal with me; the depression, drinking, crying at night. No one really gets me, not without me telling them what happened." He pauses. "Except her." My eyes go wide as Gale's gaze falls on me.

"What do you mean by that?" Madge says scribbling notes.

"Like last night, Delly was out with friends and came back early so I wouldn't be alone." Gale says. "Then she checked the wine in the fridge to see how much I had, then the trash for any cigarettes. No one else does anything like that."

"So do you feel different about Delly, now that you see she really does care?" Madge asks. I hate how they're talking about me like I'm not here.

"Yeah." Gale says. I look up at him. "I do."

"That's nice." Johanna says. "I wish I had my own Delly."

"I think we can close early today." Madge says. "We'll return to this next week."

"The green eyed monster has latched itself onto Madge." Johanna whispers to Haymitch. He scoffs and gets up to leave.

"Good-bye Delilah." He says to me. "I hope your journey, is... Interesting."

"Let me know when you put a label on it." Johanna says. Gale walks over.

"Should we go now?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say.

"Gale?" Madge says stopping us. "Since you're going through so much, I think you might need personal help." She hands him a slip of paper. "This is my number. Feel free to call if you need anything."

"Thanks Madge." Gale says. We walk out of the room.

"Day-mn." I say in a low tone. "She gave you her number."

"Don't you have play practice?" He asks.

"Smooth topic change. And yes, I do." I say.


	11. Chapter 11 Memories

**This chapter is mostly Gale thinking about Delly. Just good look at his mind. And I'm not going to go into detail on Delly's play rehearsals mainly because the play is mostly improv so it's not like they can read through a script. Also because on opening night I want you guys to be as surprised as anyone else who might be going. No interaction Katniss and Peeta just yet, but don't worry, we'll get to meet them soon.**

* * *

_Only you can be the aching in my heart_

_My enemy_

_The only animal I couldn't find_

_You hold me in the dark when storms arrive_

_Only you_

_Only you can see the emptiness I feel when you're with me_

_When everything you say I'm on my knees_

Only You, Ellie Goulding

* * *

Chapter 11- Memories

**Delly**

I decided I'd make breakfast today. I walk into the kitchen and begin pulling ingredients from the pantry and fridge. Vegan pancakes require foods that are strange and foreign to most. Things like coconut milk, almond flax, and soy flour. I have a nice batter within five minutes, working with Peeta has taught me to cook like a pro. I pour out good-sized circles onto the griddle and the ends are getting dry and bubbly when Gale walks in.

"You cook?" He asks.

"Yeah." I say turning each one over. "And these are vegan, so I can eat them."

"Cool." Gale says. He sits at the table and watches me. "So, what's happening today?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." I say looking down. "Peeta's coming back today. I'm spending the day with him." The monochromatic black specks in the counter are suddenly fascinating.

"Peeta." Gale repeats. _This granite countertop is lovely._

"Yeah." I say putting the pancakes onto a plate and restarting the process. "Katniss is spending the day with Prim, so Peeta and I are having a brother-sister day."

"Do you need a ride to the airport?" Gale asks.

"I just need a ride to my house." I say. "I'm going to take his car to the airport." There's a long pause.

"Okay." Gale says finally.

* * *

**Gale**

Why on Earth did I care what she was up to? I don't care about Delly. I care about Katniss. I care that she is coming back. Engaged to be married to Peeta Mellark of all people. The shy boy from school who worked on stage crew with the rest of those B plus/A minus-list popular kids. Except for the blonde one, Glimmer. Ugh. Where did her mom come up with her name? Probably the same place Gimmer's grandmother named her daughter "Cashmere". Delly and her friends. I used to envy them. Katniss and I would come up with names for them. There was the daughter of Snow White and Rapunzel, the future pin-up girl, Adonis, the black Incredible Hulk, the flower child, the artist/baker, and then there was Delly and Marvel. Marvel was just... different and Delly was just... there. The more I think about it, the more I realize there weren't just those two times. When I drove her home, that was awkward. The way she smiled at me, I thought she was just another pre-teen crushing on me. The Masquerade Dance (Our school wasn't allowed to say Halloween because of "religious reasons") was different. It was renaissance themed, girls rejoiced over and excuse to wear push-up bras and gaint ballgowns. Katniss and I decided to go because we figured we could cause trouble without getting caught due to the masks. We went all out in costume, I even wore a top hat; something I would never have done otherwise. Thom, a friend of mine, set off a smoke bomb we'd made in mechanics class. A teacher came over to punish us and Katniss, Thom, Leevy, and I ran in separate directions; a slow song had just come on and we latched ourselves onto the nearest person. I happened to come to Delly.

_"Hi." She said with a smile. Her eyes were unbelievably blue, outlined by the black lace in her mask. I glanced around nervously, seeing the teacher that was looking for us. She pulled Thom away from the girl he'd been dancing with._

_"Hey." I said turning around, facing my back to the teacher. Delly was short at the time, she only came up to my shoulders. "Pretty dress." _Did the words "pretty dress" really just come out of my mouth?_ I thought to myself. She looked down, red gathered at her cheeks._

_"Thank-you." She mumbled. Delly was wearing a long-sleeved black and purple striped dress; it looked very renaissance-ish, even if it wasn't a hoop-skirt like most of the other girls'. "I work on stage crew for the musical, so the costume director let us borrow some stuff for this. I chose this dress."_

_"Do you know what it's from?" I asked trying to make it look like we were friends, and I wasn't using her. That teacher was still looking. Katniss looked at me and bit her lip, then went back to looking at her dance partner._

_"Last year's musical. _Les Miz_." Delly said. All I could remember at the time was that Katniss played Fantine in it. She said it was her first and last time singing in public. The dress must've had a built-in corset, because Delly looked thin at the time._

_"Cool." I said pulling her closer. _Make it look like you're a couple, because here comes the principal._ I though to myself. Delly rested her head on my chest. I tensed up and she pulled back._

_"Sorry." She mumbled._

_"No, it's fine." I said placing her head back where it was. The curl in her hair was natural, I could tell from the fact that her head didn't crunch against my suit. For some reason, I liked that about her. _

_"Mind if I cut in?" Katniss asked. _

_"No, it's fine." Delly said walking off. Katniss came into my arms, but I still looked after Delly until she came to a group of friends._

_"So, who'd you end up dancing with?" I asked Katniss._

_"Cato, I got all of five minutes before Barbie's evil twin came in." She said. "Leevy ran to the bathroom I think. Who'd you leech onto?"_

_"I'm not sure." I said looking over her shoulder. Delly whispered something into the redheaded girl's ear. Katniss followed my gaze._

_"Delly Cartwright." She said. "She's bread-boy's sister. Everyone thought they were twins, but he's my age and she's a freshman. She's... perky."_

_"Perky?" I asked._

_"Yeah." Katniss said. "There's nothing _wrong_ with it. She's just always smiling." The song ended and we walked off the dance floor. "Thank God that's over."_

_"Hey," Leevy said walking over. "Gale, I saw you had to dance with Delly Cartwright. Yeugh, at least it's over."_

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Katniss asked. Leevy backed down a little._

_"She's just so- annoying." She said. "Always hanging out with those B-listers just because her brother is one of them. Walking around like she's something else just because she's a Townie." The town kids were the rich kids. The ones who got cars for the their sweet sixteens, the ones with loaded parents, the kids we were lucky enough to serve if we got waiting jobs at the country clubs. We were the Seam kids. Woking class parents who drove the same car their parents drove. They lived in the town, we called them the Townies. We lived in a crappy neighborhood nicknamed the Seam, they called us the Seamsters. Forget the Greasers and the Socs, we had the silent battle between the Townies and Seamsters._

_"Just because she's a Townie doesn't mean that she's-." Katniss was cut off._

_"Oh yeah?" Leevy challenged. She pointed to Delly and Felicia, now surrounded by Thresh, Rue, Glimmer, Cato, Marvel, Peeta, and Clove. "The vixen, she's a quiet poet who listens to musicians nobody's heard of. Doesn't talk to anyone but her friends. Her dad owns all of the coffee shops in town. Smash and his hippie sister are the kids of the guy who owns three gyms here. Glimmer's mom owns the most uppity boutique in town. If every playboy in the world had a son, they would all be like Cato. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and Adonis is the perfect example. Clove's mom is just rich. I don't know how, but she just is. If you think Delly and Peeta are any different just because Peeta's dad actually does_ work_ in the place he owns, think again. Peeta is a brooding artiste. Delly is going to grow up and probably be like her mom and latch onto some rich guy."_

_"Leevy, don't be so judgemental." Katniss said. "Townies are the kids of Capitols. It's not their fault."_

_"Whatever." I said trying to brush it off. "Let's just get out of here. This school throws the worst dances anyways." _

_"Yeah." Katniss said. She and Leevy headed out and I followed after. Delly stood by the exit, her eyes met mine before I left._

_"Isn't he a Seamster?" Marvel whispered._

_"Yeah, but he's the first guy that danced with me all night." She said. _She's defending me. A Townie defending a Seamster. Just because I danced with her?

_"Babe, I can change that right now." Cato said taking her hand and leading her to the dance floor. I rolled my eyes and walked past._

There were other times of course. That year's musical was "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and Katniss and I went because she wanted to see, "How bad it's gonna suck now that I'm not in it." I found Delly listed in the stage crew and ensemble. In the scene where Potiphar's wife seduced Joseph, many of her friends were there. I easily pulled out Clove and Delly. Then I saw Delly again, draped in gold with her eyes painted as one of Pharoh's on-lookers. I saw her around school sometimes. A few snapshots come to mind. Reading one of Felicia's poems at lunch, working in the library with that weird librarian, going through the halls on Cato's arm. There was one time when I saw her at the bakery helping in the back, and then serving coffee at tables. But I never really paid attention to her. I never gave her a second thought. I remember Madge in high school. She was the Capiol-Townie hybrid, and went to a private high school. I saw her around town though. Madge was the one I saw all the time. She was the one I kissed that one time to make Katniss jealous. It worked and then we started dating. But Katniss is out of the picture now. So why am I _not_ thinking about Madge? She's the beautiful one. She's the smart one. She's the one who signed up to help people. Delly is the plain-faced one. The dorky one. The one who got roped into this mess. The one who seems to care more an anyone else even though she barely knows me. _No. Stop it Gale._

Madge is fair-skinned. Delly is pasty, and looks albino.

Madge's hair is curled gold. Delly's hair is yellow.

Madge has ice blue eyes. Delly has eyes that make a sky on those perfect days jealous.

Why should I even have to compare them? I _should be_ paying attention to Madge. She gave me her number, why am I not jumping for joy like I should be? Why did I get so upset to see Delly in Cato's arms? Why do I hate her brother so much? Why do I hate him today more than usual? It's because he was Katniss. Not because he's with Delly today.

Why did I have to go behind Katniss' back with Madge that one time? Now she's with _him_ and I'm stuck with _her._ Why I am healing? I should be crying my eyes out and attempting suicide again. None of that is happening. I'm sitting here, practically _raping_ this girl who's been thrown into my lap and _it's_ going away. I'm not drinking so much but I take morphine all the time now. Why am I numbing the one thing I should be rejoicing over? My pain is going away, _she's_ taking it away and she doesn't even know where it came from. I talk to her about my life more than I talk to my mom, more than I talk about it to _Finnick_ about it. He's the one who was _right_ fucking _there_ when it all happened. _What's happening to me?_ I can shoot morphine into my arm all I want, but deep down, I know that something is wrong with me. And anti-depressants aren't going to fix it.


	12. Chapter 12 The Unexpected

**I've decided to lighten things up a bit with this chapter. I think you will like it (even thought it's a filler). Due to the fact that I'm still on my hunger strike for the ones who won't make it for dinner, I'm literally _living_ off of reviews now. That's all I'm going to say.**

* * *

_You change your mind _

_Like a girl changes clothes_

_You PMS like a bitch_

_I would know_

Katy Perry, Hot n' Cold

* * *

Chapter 12- The Unexpected 

**Gale**

"What the heck are you wearing?" I ask Delly as she enters the kitchen. I say "heck", because the rest of my family is sitting around. It's turning out to be a strange day. Even my mom has to look at Delly a second time.

"It's just, different." She says flattening her tutu. Yeah. Delly wears misty purple nylons, a black tutu, a lime green tank top, and some sort of mesh see-through star-patterned shirt on top. Her hair is half pulled back with a black ribbon.

"I think you look hot." Rory says. Mom slaps his shoulder and he goes back to drooling over his bacon rather than Delly.

"I think you look just fine." Mom says. I scoff and she gives me a stern look. Delly sits between Rory and me. "We're all going to the mall today. Rory made it to the state soccer tournament and needs a few things. Posy needs a haircut and I've been meaning to exchange that dress of hers. Gale I need you and Delly to get Vick some new slacks. There's a team dinner for the players and their families and I'd like us to look decent."

"Okay." I shrug. "When's the tournament?"

"Tuesday." Rory says. "Since mom is on the parent staff you get to come for free. I'll be in a different room in the hotel though."

"Why?" I ask.

"That's just how it works." He says.

"You should call Madge and tell her we can't make it to this weeks' meeting then. " Delly says.

"Yeah." The reply automatically comes out of my mouth. "I'll do that later." We finish the awkward meal and pile into our minivan. I sit by Delly again, reasons why, still unknown to me.

At the mall people keep looking at Delly's outfit. A few people point and Vick hides from us a few times.

"Just put this on." I say taking off my sweatshirt and giving to her. Delly zips it up so the bottom of her skirt and the nylons show. It looks better than before at least. Vick tries on several pairs of pants until he finds ones that actually fit his skinny teenage-boy figure. The entire time Delly seems rushed and keeps glancing at her iPhone for the time. Either that or texts from Peeta. No matter which it is, it pisses me off.

"C'mon. We told your mom we'd meet her at the fountain by one fifteen." She says grabbing my wrist and leading me out of the store. Vick runs after us.

"What the hell is you problem?" I ask her when we're halfway there.

"Nothing." Delly says. She sits on a bench and I plop next to her. After a glance at her iPhone again she gets up. "Stay here. I'll be right back." Ten minutes later she's still missing. I spot my mom with Rory and Posy in the crowd. I wave them over and wait for Delly.

"Where is she?" I ask no one in particular. "She left ten minutes ago." I'm cut off when a random girl begins rapping into a microphone. Her clothes are black, purple, and green; all in a style that's "out there". Another girl comes out of a trench coat and starts singing. It's ET by Katy Perry.

"It's a flashmob." Rory says. I look around and see people videotaping. Random bystanders jump into the dance. I don't get it until I see Delly burst out of my sweatshirt and join them, along with her friend Rue. They're both wearing lots of makeup in addition to the black, purple, and green. The song morphs into Disturbia by Rihanna. A dance circle breaks out and there's everything from ballet to break dancing. Delly looks likes she's having a lot of fun, she's actually a pretty good dancer. The girl singing has a great voice and the girl who's rapping doesn't suck. The whole flashmob is pretty awesome. When the girls finish all of them come together for a bow and then break off into groups talking. A few people go up to them to compliment them and things like that. Delly's talking to Rue and the girl who was singing, she catches my eye and smiles at me.

"Hey, I'll be back in a second." She says walking away. "Once again, great job Olivia!" Delly jogs over to us.

"That was awesome." Rory says.

"Thanks." She says. "This was our second flashmob. I think this program really makes a difference."

"Program?" My mom asks.

"We're called Firework Flashmobs. I came up with it a year ago. Basically, we get a bunch of girls with problems in life and bring them to a place where we can have fun and display our talents." Delly says. "Olivia, our lead singer, used to have an eating disorder. Amber was rapping, she's a constantly teased lesbian. There are so many others, Bethany used to cut and now she's back to ballet. Sometimes we even get really young girls whose parents are getting a divorce or lost a family member. It's just a really beautiful thing to see all of these girls with problems coming out of their shells, not to mention putting on a kick-ass show." Posy doesn't say anything when Delly swears, and if what she said weren't true, I might get upset about it.

"So you started this?" I ask. Delly nods. "Wow. That's pretty amazing for someone your age to think of this."

"Thanks." She says. "Sorry I was being rude about time and all that. I had to get here early enough to do my makeup and with Libby, that can take hours."

"Well it was very entertaining and I'm glad that we got to see it." Mom says.

"Would you mind if I went with some of the girls to hang out?" Delly asks.

"Of course not, just make sure you get back by ten." My mom replies. But I don't want her to leave, I want Delly to stay. And because I want this, I get angry with myself and my mind starts to blur. I take Vick to the car as quickly as possible so I don't have to see Delly run back to her friends.

**Delly**

All of us go out for pizza at a local place with an Italian name I can never say right. Bethany looks completely free. Amber flirts with some cute girls. Olivia eats one slice of pizza and drinks half of her lemonade. I see Elina and Maria- both teen moms- having fun. They both have to leave early of course, but I'm glad they came. Rue hangs out with a twelve year old named Hannah, who's living with her mom after her dad left them for another woman. It's a great feeling to know that other people can have fun when day-to-day life is such a challenge. It's drizzling outside when Amber gets the number of our waitress who's actually bi. We all celebrate and we start singing Thrift Shop, we don't even have to censor anything because we're the only customers here. You can hear thunder in the distance when we all try cramming together for a picture. The lighting is clearly visible by the time the photo is actually taken. I upload it to Instagram. Because of the bad weather, we have to cut our celebration short. Rue gives me a ride home. It's dark and everyone is asleep when I get there. I strip off my costume and slip into my tank top and shorts. Then I spend twenty minutes in the bathroom taking off the glamourous-alien makeup to match the songs we danced to. It takes another fifteen minutes to brush all of the tangles out of my hair. I'm about to head to my room when I hear the back door opening. I walk over as quickly as possible and see a figure running into the distance. I check Gale's room and find it empty, I don't know why I checked; I already knew it was him. I run back over and cup my hands around my mouth.

"Gale!" I shout. "Gale!" I'm already losing sight of him. I've never been to the woods outside his house before, but what else am I supposed to do? I grab a sweatshirt and my hiking boots, putting both of them on as fast as I can. Then I run out into the storm after him.


	13. Chapter 13 The Hanging Tree

**WTF IS GOING ON HERE? WHY IS GALE RUNNING AND WHERE TO? WHY IS DELLY CRAZY ENOUGH TO RUN AFTER HIM IN THE FREEZING RAIN WITH SHORT SHORTS? WHY WON'T MY CAPS LOCK BUTTON TURN OFF?! Oh hey, there it goes. Double update because these are both short chapters and I should've updated awhile ago. Extra love to those of you who actually read this A/N as well as the quote rather than just skipping to the chapter.**

* * *

_I will hold on hope_

_And I won't let you choke_

_On the loose aroung your neck_

Mumford and Sons, The Cave

* * *

Chapter 13- The Hanging Tree

My sense of direction has always been bad, and when you throw worry and a thunderstorm in as well... I'm just lucky Gale's footprints are still fresh in the mud. I have to keep up though, the rain is coming down harder and the prints fade away faster. I put my hood up in attempt to warm up, and fail. My legs are freezing after about ten minutes. Another twenty later, and they're half-way numb. Everything looks so dark and the lighting flashes obscure my vision. My hands get cut a few times by bushes with thorns and trees with low branches. There are several creeks and small streams that I have to be careful not to fall into. I keep running though. He wouldn't just run out at eleven o'clock at night in a storm if he needed to go on a walk. It's probably almost midnight now. I finally come out of the woods and to a small clearing. The first thing I see is the hill, then the tree on top of it. I run to the top and it takes all of my energy. Gale's staring at something on the tree.

"Gale?" I say slightly louder than normal. He turns around so quickly water from his hair hits me in the face.

"Delly?" He shouts. "What the hell are doing out here?"

"I was worried about you." I shout back. Between the rain and thunder, we kind of have to. Gale looks shocked. "You just ran off, and this is terrible weather." I pause. "Why did you come here?" Gale clenches his jaw and turns to look at the tree again.

"There are rumors that some kid hung himself from this tree. Katniss and I came to check it out for ourselves." He says. "That was the day we carved our initials right here." Gale points to K.E+G.H in the wood. "It was the night before I left for the first time. I promised after everything was over, we'd get married. But then... We started growing apart. Her letters were less frequent and she talked about taking a break whenever I came home. But somehow I would keep us together by two threads. They kept splitting until there was barely anything left. This last year Katniss told me she met someone else. Finnick and Darius kept me from going AWOL. One day we were sent in to rescue a fourteen year old girl being held hostage by her 30 year old husband, he had a time bomb. I came up with this horrible death trap that would get the girl out and kill the guy, as well as a few of them men in the building with him. Things went wrong and then we were trapped inside too. Finnick found a way to get everyone out. Darius and I went back to get the girl. Only Darius never made it out. That was the day I got a letter from Katniss saying that she was engaged." Gale pauses. "I blamed myself for Darius' death, I still do. Katniss moved on, Finnick has Annie, and I have no one. I just-" I jump forward and wrap my arms around Gale, my eyes shut tightly.

"I'm so sorry." I say.

"Delly-" He starts. But I stop him.

"Nobody should have to go through that." I say. "You can get past it Gale. I can see you moving on every day. You're a lot stronger than you think. If you're going to sit around and wallow in self-pity, then you're dishonoring Darius. He was your friend and he would want you to move on."

He says nothing. I squeeze him tightly and he hugs me back. "You don't have to be afraid." I whisper. "You're not alone."

We pull away from each other and he looks down. "Jesus, you came out here in your shorts! Are you crazy?"

"I heard you leaving and I just ran after you." I explain.

"Aren't your legs cold?" Gale asks.

"Well, I can't exactly feel them..." I trail off.

"Oh my God." He mumbles. "We need to go home before you get frostbite."

"Okay." I say and Gale takes the lead. The way back is harder than the original journey. I have to hold Gale's hand so I don't fall behind.

"Are you okay back there?" He asks after we've been walking for about a half hour.

"Yeah." I say. The thunder has stopped and it's drizzling slightly softer than before.

"Dammit!" Gale shouts when a tree branch hits him in the head.

"Is it bleeding?" I ask when we come to a stop.

"Yeah." He says examining his hand after putting it to his forehead. Some of the blood drips down his face because of the rain. "Shit, my mom's gonna freak."

"I know first aid. I'll check it when we get back to the house." I say.

"Thanks." Gale says. We continue walking.

"So, why did you come out here tonight?" I ask. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I'm not really sure." He says. "I was talking to Finn today- he wants us to meet him and Annie for coffee on Friday. I brought up Darius and then I saw your second dress fitting on the calendar. It was like the real thing all over again. Too much happening at once and it seemed like no one cared."

"I see." I say. I let out a small yelp as I fall forward feeling a sharp pain in my right leg and suddenly the right side of me up to my hip is wet. Gale pulls me out of the creek and stops for a moment.

"Are you hurt?" He asks. "Are you okay Delly?"

"I fell in, that's all." I say. I look down at the cut on my leg. "I can fix this up when we get to the house." I begin walking and wince in pain. The dirt-filled water mingling with my blood doesn't feel the greatest.

"Can you walk?" Gale asks.

"Yeah, I think so." I say leaning mostly on my left leg, almost limping. Gale take my arm and puts it over his shoulder, his other hand grabs my hip. He's mostly carrying me, but I still take steps. We make it back to the house and Gale sets me in a chair and gets a first aid kit. He turns on one light, trying not to wake anyone up. I work on Gale first. The branch must've had thorns on it, or been pretty sharp from the look of the cut. It's just along the left side of his hairline and after cleaning it up, it doesn't look like it'll bleed much more.

"This might sting." I say putting antiseptic onto a cotton ball. I dab along the cut and Gale clenches his jaw closing his eyes tightly. I apply a thin bandage. "You're good."

"Thanks doc." He says smiling. Gale helps me clean the dirt and blood from my leg and I don't even have to bandage it. "C'mon. We need to change out of these clothes." He says afterwards.

"Yeah." I say automatically. I walk to my room and I'm about to shut the door when I catch a glimpse of Gale pulling a wet shirt over his head. _Holy shit._ I think to myself. I close the door before I can take a second glance. _Inappropriate thoughts. Lots of them._ I peel my shorts off and unzip my sweatshirt only to find the rain went straight to my tank top. All I can think of is Johanna and Cato talking about how Gale and I are set up just like a porn film. Right now, I wouldn't disagree with them. _God Rue was right. He's hot. Gale is fucking sexy. Shut up and stop thinking that way!_ I slap myself and pull on sweatpants and a cami.

"Delly?" Gale asks softly at my door. I open it and find myself oddly close to his face. "I'm just going to put our wet clothes in the dryer."

"Yeah. Of course." I say picking mine off the floor and handing them to him. "Thanks."

"No problem." He says walking off. My hands are still freezing, although my legs are now tingling; so there must be some sort of blood flow going on. I wring out my wet hair and comb through it. I consider using a hair dryer, but figure that it would be too loud and wake up Posy. I sit on the couch in the living room because I'm not yet tired. I can hear Gale turning on the dryer and then walking to the bathroom. I peek my head around the corner and see him towelling off his hair. He stays in there for awhile and I stare into space thinking about everything that's happened tonight. My hands are barely lukewarm and the feeling has returned to my legs when I finally start feeling sleepy. I glance at the clock, 3:06 AM. I get up to go to my room and awkwardly run into Gale. We hug each other at the same time and stay like that for awhile. He pulls away.

"Thanks Delly. I didn't think anyone would go out there after me." He says holding my hands in his. They heat up as quickly as my face when I look down.

"It's no problem." I say. "Your hands are really warm." _Did I seriously just say that?_

"Yours are really cold." He says letting go.

"Thank-you. For telling me what happened. It means a lot to know that you trust me." I say. Gale grabs my chin, tilting it upward so I look him in the eye. _How many times have we been through this?_ He moves both of his hands to my neck. Almost no space is between us. My mind is swimming in a thousand thoughts, all loosely linked together somehow. _Porn. Car keys. The hanging tree. Gale shirtless. The book on LSD. His hands on me in the minivan. Aviator glasses. Empty bottles of red wine. Johanna smirking at me. Quit daydreaming. Focus on reality. What is reality?_ This is reality: The scent of Gale, earthy and warm. The softness of his shirt as I grip the fabric on his shoulder. I let go and recline, creating space between us and freeing my neck from the grip of his hands.

"Goodnight Gale." I say nodding slightly. I turn to my room and shut the door. It takes me two seconds to fall asleep.


	14. Chapter 14 Illness

**O_o **

**Wow. I'm not even sure what happened there and I _wrote_ it. Well, now everything is out in the open. It's an open book (Tee hee. I love wordplay.) ALSO: I recently wrote a Gally oneshot. If any of you would check it out, I'd be forever grateful. Or just enjoy this extra long chapter. **

* * *

_And my head told my heart,_

_"Let love grow."_

_But my heart told my head,_

_"This time no, this time no."_

Mumford and Sons, Winter Winds

* * *

Chapter 14- Illness

_What the hell just happened?_ I wonder. _Was I about to kiss her? No. No way in hell that was going to happen. But what was that? _I think about Johanna always smiling at us in therapy, how Madge though we were dating, how Delly said that it was illegal anyways. I just told her my secret. The thing that's literally driven me to insanity. I basically murdered someone- my best friend no less- and she doesn't even care.

_"I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through that."_ Why did it bother me so much? I've seduced her at least three times by now and she doesn't even care._ "You can get past it Gale._" Delly ran out in the rain with bare legs when she didn't even know where I was going or why I was going. I'm still not sure why I left. Sometimes my mind just blacks out and I'm doing things without thinking. Maybe it's from lack of sleep or not taking my medication or smoking or drinking or the morphine or my sex drive suddenly kicking into high gear with no one use it on. Probably all of those things put together._ "You don't have to be afraid. You're not alone."_ Delly's whispers follow me into my sleep and chase me in the darkness of my dreams.

"Gale Jacob Hawthorne, you've slept long enough." My mom says loudly, knocking on the door. I keep my eyes closed. Maybe if I stay in bed, she'll go away. She opens the door and enters my room, pulling back the curtains. I'm tempted to hiss at the sunlight pouring in. My mom is definitely smirking at this. I groan as she exits the room. I look at the clock next to my bed. 1:15 PM. Wow. I wonder if Delly's awake yet. Knowing her, she's probably going to enter at any minute wearing one of her flowy skirts and tank tops and start gushing about the sunlight. Either that or awkwardly enter and ask about what happened last night. I wouldn't put my money on the latter though. I stay in bed for another twenty minutes. I change my pants and walk out of my room.

"So are you trying to go for the 'I just rolled out of bed' hairstyle, or did you really just roll out of bed?" Rory asks when I sit next to him on he couch.

"Whatever works." I say running a hand through my hair. "Is Delly awake yet?"

"Nope." Rory says. "She's been asleep all day. Mom won't let any of us check on her either. Did you two shag last night or something?"

"Repeat that last part again." I say.

"Mom won't let us check on her either." Rory says. I smile.

"What? You like watching Delly sleep?" I ask Rory. He looks like he's trying to think of a come-back.

"You win for now." He says narrowing his eyes. There's a knock at the door. "Gotta go. Collin and I are going to run some drills at the park and stuff. Plus, Prim is going to be there."

"Primrose Everdeen Prim?" I ask. Rory nods grabbing his soccer ball and cleats throwing them into his backpack.

"She takes Buttercup to the park on Sundays. Supposedly it's good for him to run around." He says.

"Okay then. But what do you care if Prim's going t- Hey wait a second!" I say getting off the couch. Rory tries heading for the door but I stop him just in time. "You like Prim!"

"No shit Sherlock." Rory mumbles. I pin him to the wall.

"Rory likes Prim!" I shout. He rolls his eyes and looks like he might clobber me, but leaves the house smirking.

"Don't shout so loudly." Mom says. "Delly's not feeling well. I might take her to a doctor tomorrow."

"Why what's wrong?" I ask.

"It's like she suddenly got hit with something." Or spent about three to four hours in the rain while wearing extremely short shorts that displayed her ass very nicely. What am I doing thinking these things? "It looks like a flu, but could be pneumonia." Mom says. "I'm covering my shift, as well as one for the night. Make sure Posy gets to bed on time, keep Rory from sneaking out, and make sure Vick doesn't play video games all night long."

"What about Delly?" I ask.

"Check in her once or twice. I don't think she'll be getting out of bed anytime soon." Mom says leaving. I peek into the backyard, Vick and Posy are playing some sort of game. I open the door to Delly's room. She sits propped up on pillows, looking very pale.

"Hey." Her voice is still the same.

"Hi." I say sitting on the edge of her bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." She says smiling.

"This is probably my fault." I say thinking about how cold it was last night.

"No, it's fine. If a 24 hr bug is what it costs to gain your trust, then I'm really good at finding deals." Delly says.

"You're such a dork." I say laughing.

"Yeah. I know." She says smiling. Delly takes my hand, she's burning hot. "Thanks for telling me. I understand now."

"I figured you should know." I say. "You're really warm."

"That's what we humans call, 'a fever'." She says.

"Alright smart-ass. I'm going to let you rest." I say getting up.

"Thanks for checking on me." Delly says.

"No problem." I say.

The next day she gets worse. When Mom takes her to the doctor's office I catch a glimpse at her. Pale, purple circles around the eyes, sweaty forehead, bright red lips, even her usual curly blonde hair hangs like bleached seaweed around her face. Delly goes straight to her room after they both return.

"Stomach flu with a fever." Mom announces.

"But tomorrow is my soccer tournament." Rory says. "What if she can't go?"

"There is no 'what if?' Delly isn't going to get to see you play Rory. That's that." Mom says.

"What's going to happen to her?" Posy asks.

"Gale, I need to stay here and watch over her. Angelica told me that whenever a bug goes around, Delly's the first to catch it. Considering Rory still can't drive and you seem to have an immune system made of steel, you're the best candidate."

"If you're trying to set us up, I think you should know I told her." I say mom raises an eyebrow.

"Who said I was seething you up for anything?" She asks. I roll my eyes. "Look Gale, I just need you to stay behind. I'll record the games and we'll tell you what happened when we get back."

"Okay." I moan.

"Look on the bright side, the rest of us have to wake up at four tomorrow and take a three hour drive. You get to sleep in." Mom says. Vick's eyes widen at the thought of waking up so early. For a moment, I can look on the bright side. Then my mom mentions that Delly has to take a medication if she stays the same tomorrow. I can barely remember to take my own medication. Tomorrow suddenly doesn't look so fun.

I wake up at 7:30 on the dot. I always find it freaky when I do this. The morning is unusually quiet and boring. No Delly running around telling me I'm going to be late to therapy. I get an idea. I quietly knock on her door.

"You can come in." She says softly. I open the door slowly. Delly looks the same, but now she's sitting up. Actually, now her skin is so pale it's started turning green slightly as well as developed a glossy sheen. It's probably sweat. "So. What's up?"

"Nothing really." I say. Delly reaches out and pats a spot at the edge of her bed. I walk over and sit.

"I'm really sorry I messed this up for you." She says after a moment. My eyebrows knit together. "You can't go to Rory's soccer game now."

"Are you seriously apologizing for getting sick after you chased after me in the rain?" I ask.

"Well, yeah." Delly says. I move closer to her.

"You're so stupid Cartwright." I say laughing. "You're sick because of me. So I guess that makes us even."

"Okay." Delly says. I grab her hands, they're colder than reptile blood.

"Would you mind if I went to group therapy by myself today?" I ask.

"No. You should go anyways." She says. I squeeze her hand.

"Thanks." I say. Delly looks down.

"Don't do that." She says.

"Do what?"

"That. Where you grab my hands and make me feel awkward. Then when you get what you want, you drop it like it's hot."

"I don't do that." I protest letting go of her hands.

"You just did it there!" Delly says. She looks so sick, it's contradicting to hear her arguing like she's fine. "You held my hands before you asked me about leaving, now you stopped."

"That's a coincidence." I say.

"You've seduced me several times as well." Delly says. Just when I thought she would never notice.

"Name a least four." I say.

"In the car twice, at the door twice, and two nights ago." She says. "That's five times."

"So?"

"All of those times you were using me for something."

"No I wasn't!"

"In the car you were using me to take out all of your new physical drives. The first time at the door was to make me listen to you. The second time at the door you were grabbing the car keys out of my back pocket." Delly says. "And that night... you tried to kiss me."

"What?! No!" I shout. " I don't know what I was doing, but that is not it!"

"Both of those times at the door, it seemed like you were."

"Yeah at the door. And according to who?"

"Glimmer, Rue, Clove, Foxface, Johanna, Amber, and me." She says. _Oh shit, I didn't think she'd actually have an answer._

"Wait, Glimmer was the one at the door, how did those other people become members of your jury?" I ask

"Rue is my best friend, I talked to her and Amber overheard. Glimmer told Clove and Foxface, and Johanna asked me about it." Delly explains.

"Only Glimmer counts. She was the only person there. You could've twisted the story when other people found out." I say.

"Okay. You win. We're not a romantic couple, nor will we ever be." She says. I sigh standing up.

"Thank-you." I say. "I'll be back in an hour or so." I head for the door.

"Slag Senior." She says it lowly under her breath, but I hear her. I whip around as fast as I can.

"What did you just call me?" I ask. Delly clenches her jaw and gulps.

"Slag Senior." She says. "I remember the rumors. And I have eyewitnesses as well as firsthand accounts from friends. I know for a fact that they weren't rumors." Nobody's called me "Slag Senior" since 12th grade.

"What's your point?" I say slowly. Delly looks me right in the eye. Hers are the only brightly-colored feature on her face.

"Nothing. It's just, I was never one of those girls, and I wasn't on the list either." Delly says. "Just think about it." I don't feel like fighting back so I just leave the house and let her win this one. The sunglasses go on and I start driving.

I got the nickname "Slag Senior" because of what I did my senior year with girls. There used to be a dump a few blocks away from our school, a few years ago they covered the whole thing with grass seeds and let a meadow of sorts grow in. But there was a lump that they never smoothed out that became a mound. And in the winter when it snowed something they put in the grass to keep it growing turned the snow a really gross grey color. The kids school nick-named that mound of slush, "the slag heap". Because of how close it was to the school, lots of couples would go there to make out after prom or before they were on school grounds where "PDA is not permitted". Yeah. Neither is smoking but we have a courtyard for that. Let's just say as a senior I got a reputation for taking girls to the slag heap. Madge was one of them. At one point, Thom started making a list for girls to sign up and meet me there. Other times, I would just take a girl there by choice. I try to remember which one of Delly's friends I took there. I distinctly remember Glimmer licking my lip and sliding her tongue down my throat. Clove might have been in there too. I remember wanting to kiss Foxface, just to see if the stories about redheads were true. Rue's name might have been on the list at one point, but then Katniss made me stop and shortly after we started dating. I can definitely see Delly as one of the girls who would sit tying her shoes in the locker room rolling her eyes while my latest costumer would drag on about how wonderful it was. I hate how I acted, but I don't exactly regret it.

"Hey solider boy. Where's Blondie?" Johanna asks.

"It's nice to see you too Ms. Mason." I shoot back. "Delly's sick. She stayed home today." Madge looks up from her conversation with Seneca when I say this.

"Wow. Tell her I hope she feels better soon." Johanna says. She seems kind of, sad. Like a normal person.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing." Johanna says. "It's just... I don't know. It's barely July, you two have only known each other since June. I didn't think... wow Hawthorne, you must work fast if Delly has morning sickness already." She breaks into a grin when seeing my face. "I thought it wouldn't happen until at least August."

"Real mature Mason." I say walking off. Haymitch high fives her and Madge clears her throat.

"Aside from Delly, is anyone missing today?" She asks. I look around.

"Where's Chaff?" Seneca asks.

"He quit." Haymitch says.

"But, why?" Madge asks. She runs to Haymitch. "He was making so much progress, I thought-"

"Yeah. That's just it." Haymitch says. "He quit. Drinking and this group."

"Oh my." Madge says. Wow. Even I'm shocked. The guy lost his hand and he was the first of us to get over his addiction. "I think you can all learn a lesson from Chaff. Moving on isn't as hard as it seems." Madge continues with the session. Johanna makes her usual inappropriate jokes, Haymitch laughs at them, Seneca looks like he'd rather be anywhere else but here. I'm still stuck on what Madge said. _"Moving on isn't as hard as it seems."_

_"You don have to be afraid. You're not alone."_

Both if them sound the same, and before I can stop, I start thinking too fast again. When therapy ends I head home, hoping I can smooth things over with Delly.

"Delly?" I call out. The bathroom door is open a crack and I see her hunched over the toilet. Oh yeah. Stomach flu. She throws up and starts gasping for breath. More puke, and then she starts crying. Whenever someone gets sick you try to remember the last time you were sick. That way you know how to act around them. I've never been sick, so I throw the rule book out the window. Delly reaches up a weak arm and flushes the toilet. I walk over and kneel next to her.

"Hey." I say. Delly looks at me and wipes her eyes. "How bad is it?" I ask, because "how are you feeling?" Would be stupid to ask.

"Awful." She says. "I've barely eaten anything and my stomach is trying to kill itself." Delly breaks off into tears again and I awkwardly hug her.

"C'mon." I say. "I think I have an idea." Because she's sitting in a fetal position, all I have to do is put my arm under her knees. "Put your arms around me."

"I'm fine." She mumbles.

"Just do it Cartwright." I say. Her hands are colder than they were before and the rest of her is burning hot. I carry her to her room and set her on the bed. I grab her iPhone. "What's your pass code?"

"1409." Delly says. I enter it and check her contacts. Please work. I hit the number and it dials. Pick up, please pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Peeta?"

"Yes. Who's speaking?"

"This is Gale Hawthrone. Your sister is at my house."

"Oh yeah." Peeta suddenly remembers. "What's wrong?"

"Well, Delly's sick, I thought hat maybe if you came over she might feel better. I'm not really experienced with this sort of thing." I say. Isn't this just strange? The Seamster asking a Townie to play doctor because the Seamster doesn't know how.

"Yeah. I'll be right over." Peeta says. From the other room Delly moans.

"Crap. I think I just started my period." She says. Delly begins crawling to the bathroom and I pray that there's no traffic on the way here. In ten minutes Peeta's at the door knocking.

"Hello Gale." He says. Wow. They really do look like twins.

"Hi. She's in the living room." I say awkwardly. Peeta nods and walks past me with a tote bag in hand. I stop myself from making any mean comments, verbally anyways.

"Peeta." Delly croaks when he enters the room. I watch them from the kitchen. She holds out her arms for him and they embrace. "How did you-"

"Gale called me." He says. Delly hugs him again and curls into a ball.

"What's in the bag?" She asks. Peeta smiles.

"A survival kit." He says reaching in. "I've got Harry Potter movies 4-8, because you know the first three well enough to perform them as a one-woman show." Delly laughs. "I brought some chicken noodle soup. Don't bother protesting that you're a vegan, because it's crazy enough that you live off of leaves regularly, your body will need this stuff now more than ever. I also brought Gatorade and ginger ale, those won't be too hard on your stomach, so the puking might stop. And I didn't know if you were on your period or not, but just in case, I brought you Kotex tampons since you prefer that brand."

"You're the best big brother in the world." Delly says snuggling close to him. He takes out a blanket and gives it to her. Peeta takes a thermos of soup and goes into the kitchen. It's like he knows where everything is. Bowls and spoons anyways. They sat in the living room the whole day. Watching every single Harry Potter movie he'd brought. Occasionally Delly would fall asleep, but if Peeta paused she come out of it mumbling, "Keep it playing. Cedric's going to die soon and I can't miss it." or "No. It's almost time for us to met Luna for the first time." Things along those lines. Delly's puking did decrease as the day went on. She eats Peeta's soup without a word and I give her the medication my mom left behind. The sweat on her skin disappears, her hair regains its golden color, and Delly seems happier in general. I do watch the last movie with them. Delly and Peeta sit snuggled on the couch, hanging on every word; even though when she isn't m crying, Delly mouths or whispers every line. I sit on the armchair, not understand most of what happens, given that I'd never really been a Harry Potter or Twilight fan. Delly falls asleep as soon as the 19 yrs. later scene wraps up. Peeta gets ready to leave around nine.

"Thanks." I say.

"It's no problem. I miss my little sister so much, it was nice to take care of her for what was probably the last time." Peeta says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Just that she's growing up. I'm growing up. My time with Delly was limited to begin with, but she reminded me what love was and I showed her what it really meant. If my dad hadn't married her mom, I don't know what I would've done." Peeta says.

"You're her step-brother?" I ask. I think Delly's used the term before, but I didn't pick it up.

"Yes." Peeta says. He glances at her sleeping on the couch. "But neither of us use that term. We're more than siblings, let alone step-siblings." There's a pause as Peeta smiles at me. "If you ever need everything again, just call."

"Okay." I say as be leaves. It would be so much easier to hate him if he weren't that nice.

I walk over to the couch and get ready to carry Delly to her room. She sits bolt upright.

"I can walk." She mutters getting up. I have to stop myself from laughing.

"You sure?" I ask.

"Yeah. It's just, just, just, down the hall." Delly says getting up and waltzing down the hall. Halfway there I hear her hit the floor. I check the bottle with her prescription, _CAUTION: May cause drowsiness, dizziness or fainting upon standing. _Wow. You never take the side-effects seriously until they actually happen. I head down the hall and scoop up Delly in my arms, taking her to the bedroom. I pull back the sheets and set her on the bed. I brush back a piece of her hair and pull the covers to her collarbone.

_"And that night... You tried to kiss me."_

What would it be like to kiss Delly, I wonder? There's still purple rimming her eyes, but it's turned pinkish now. Delly's fever went down, I could feel that earlier. And her hands are the same temperature as the rest if her body too. Her face remains pale, but her lips have regained their light pink color. I find myself staring at her mouth longer than necessary. Just before leaving, I lean down to her face, and press my mouth on hers slightly. Warm from her fever, and stilled from her sleep, Delly's lips have no effect on me. I'm not sure what I was worried about. I pull back and head towards the door, feeling better about myself. Then before I can stop myself, I run back over and kiss her again, at least a minute longer than before. She might as well be dead, she doesn't kiss me back or even show a sign of being aware of what I'm doing to her in her sleep. It's like a one-way make out, because I keep kissing her with as much passion I can muster; almost hoping that she'll wake up. But not even running my tongue over the soft curve of her lip causes her to do so much as stir. I finally pull away when I can't take the heat of her fever-induced hot mouth building up to a fire on my lips. _What the hell? I _look at Delly; sleeping, innocent, unknowing. _This_ _can't happen. I won't let it. I_ walk out and head to my room. Then I grab my cell phone and dial Madge's number.


	15. Chapter 15 FISH

**Sorry about the delay in update, life's been busy and horrid and wonderful all at once. But as soon as I got my 10th favorite I knew I had to update right away because that 10 favorite now makes me... THE MOST FAVORITED GALLY FIC IN EXISTANCE! YAAAY! Thanks to all of you who took part in this historic event. That means ****FRESHiceCREAMhYuNa, ****PEENISSFORLIFE, ****Pitonisa, ****PrincessXika, ****SunWillRise2340, ****TayLullabyLove, ****itsybitsybookworm, ****kittybelltheory, ****rorow1,** **and ****snorlaxismypatronus. Thank you so much you guys!**

**Now then, back to our Gally. Tsk, tsk Gale. When will you learn? Blonde Girl Sleeping+Hot Guy Standing Around=Kissing. ****Haha. Enjoy this chapter, as most of you are be wondering WTF just happened... AGAIN.**

* * *

_Is there a chance, _

_a fragment of light at the end of the tunnel_

_a reason to fight?_

_Is there a chance you may change your mind?_

_Or are we ashes and wine?_

A Fine Frenzy, Ashes and Wine

* * *

Chapter 15- F.I.S.H.

**Delly**

My head is spinning when I wake up. I know that I must have a least of little bit of a fever left because up to my collar-bone I'm warm. Then anything not covered by blanket is frozen. Except my mouth; it's not feverishly hot or sub-arctic cold, it's just normal body temperature, and I can taste something strong but bitter.

I feel... Different. I'm not talking like, "I'm better different", or "Suddenly something/everything is perfect different". I've never felt this way before. I'm not sure what it is, but I walk out of my room and into the hallway. Gale appears to be leaving.

"Hey." I say smiling. Gale looks at me.

"Well you're perky." He observes.

"Just better." I say.

"That's good. I'm about to head out." Gale says.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"I'm meeting Madge at Starbucks." He says. Something inside me stirs. Luckily I've learned a lot about lying from Peeta.

"It's about damn time you asked her out." I say. Gale looks shocked.

"You're happy... For me?"

"Yeah." I lie through my smiling teeth. "What else would I be?"

"Don't remember last night?" His eyebrows tug together.

"What about last night?" I ask confused. Gale touches my waist and pulls me near him.

"You don't remember that?" He asks. I blink at him. Do not show any reaction.

"Nope." I say with a hint of a smile. Gale reaches under my legs and picks me off the ground. Holy shit. I mean, I know I lost weight, but come on, I'm no twig. And the way he just scoops me up- Holy shit. "Put me down." I say. Gale sets me down, almost sad.

"You don't remember anything?" He clarifies again. I shake my head. "I'm going to be late." Gale grabs his keys and leaves. And then I feel like crying.

"So he's with Madge now?" Rue asks. I set her cherry turnover and lemonade in front of her. Feeling much better, I decided to have Peeta pick me up so I could open the bakery. Mom and Dad closed it for the summer, I opened it. As long as I didn't take any cake orders I knew it wasn't anything Peeta and I couldn't handle. He stood at the register handing a woman her change.

"Yeah." I say. "And it's really weird."

"Hey girlssssah." Peeta says in his stereotype-gay-guy-voice taking the empty seat across from Rue. "So, who's fucking who and what is up with my baby sister?" I take a moment to laugh before answering.

"Nobody is hooking up as far as I know and nothing is up with me." I say.

"Puh-lees!" Rue spits. "There is one thing up, and that's Gale Hawthorne. He is literally UP since a) he's sexy tall and b) you're short in a Marilyn Monroe kind of sexy way."

"Was Marilyn Monroe even short?" Peeta asks in his regular voice.

"I'll look it up sometime and tell you." I say. "And I have no feelings for Gale, nor does he for me."

"LIES." Rue says. "Repeat everything you noticed when you woke up this morning." I think carefully before answering.

"I felt well-rested, my mouth tasted like something slightly bitter- most likely vomit contained in my mouth-"

"Eww. Eating here." Rue says with a mouth of flaky cherry turnover.

"Sorry." I say. "Ummmm, Gale seemed really weird. He was upset almost that I didn't remember anything from last night. He picked me up and asked if I remembered it. And something felt... right, this morning. I've never felt like it before. It was one moment of pure imperfect perfection."

"Deep Dells. Poetic." Peeta says.

"And I was kind of sad when he said he was going to see Madge." I admit.

"Jealous?" Rue teases. I shrug. It's my best response. It's my only response.

"I just figured out everything." Peeta says. I lean in, ready to listen. "The bitter taste in your mouth was the tequila I saw Gale take two shots of in the kitchen last night during Neville's monologue. The taste is strong; so that's how it was still there after I left, Gale carried you to your room, and set you in bed. He first pecked you in the mouth to test the waters, that's how your lips have that taste. Then he couldn't help himself and gave you the best kiss possible in hope of waking you up. He probably used some tongue, maybe not inside, but that's how the bitterness got inside your mouth. Then, because he's an idiot, Gale decided to call Madge for a date. Either he wants to bury his feelings for you, make you jealous, or both."

For a few moments I just let my mouth hang open.

"It's true." Peeta says taking a sip of Rue's lemonade. "You want this floral?" He asks.

"Yeah." Rue says. Peeta takes her drink and goes into the kitchen, when he comes out there are dried flower petals on top. It's one of my favorite things we do here, the floral lemonade. The citrus of the lemon and fresh scents of the flowers create a gorgeous taste that, so far, everyone has liked. Rue takes a long sip when Peeta hand her the glass.

"I could see you guys together." Rue says. "Peeta, what would their pairing name be?"

"Rue! My life is not a fanfic!" I shout.

"Why not?" She asks. "You write plenty of them for Harry Potter so why can't I write a..."

"Gally." Peeta says.

"Why can't I write a Gally fic in my mind?" Rue asks.

"Because the few H.P. fanfictions I write is different from my life." I say.

"Few?" Rue asks rhetorically. "Aside from like, two Hunas, a few Lovebottoms, and a Snilly you've written over a hundred for a certain platinum blonde-haired pairing."

"DRUNA IS MY O.T.P.! DON'T JUDGE ME!" I half-shout. Rue and Peeta burst into laughter. "Druna is the best pairing ever. Draco and Luna are perfect for each other."

"Why's that?" Peeta asks.

"Because, without Draco, Luna would would float into space. And without Luna, Draco would never get more than a few feet off the ground."

"Now replace 'Draco and Luna' with 'Gale and Delly'." Rue says smirking. I really should've seen that coming.

"Well guess what? You can ship 'Gally' all you want the same way I can write as many Druna oneshots and multi- chapters as I want." I say. "But the more popular pairing will always be Dramoine because 'opposites attract' and all that shit. Even though Draco would never think of it because he thinks she's a filthy Mudblood know-it-all and Luna's probably a Pureblood. BUT NOBODY CARES BECAUSE 'LOVE/HATE' LEMONS ARE MORE FUN TO READ AND WRITE THAN 'OPPOSITES ATTRACT' LEMONS! EVEN THOUGH THE ONE YEAR AGE DIFFERENCE MAKES THINGS HOTTER IN MY MIND AND HARMOINE IN THE BOOKS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE HOT. SO TECHNICALLY LUNA'S BETTER LOOKING AND THEREFOR SHE AND DRACO ARE TEN TIMES HOTTER THA-"

"Caaaaaalm." Peeta says patting my shoulder. I take a few deep breaths.

"My point is that Gale would obviously not ship Druna. He'd ship Dramoine." I say.

"Speak in non-fanfiction/metaphorical terms Dell." Rue says.

"Gally is to Druna as Gadge is to Dramoine." I say. "It's not going to happen."

"But do you WANT it to happen?" Rue asks. I say nothing. I pull off a small piece of her turnover and pop it in my mouth.

"SQUEEEE!" Rue shouts. Thank God that nobody's in the bakery but us. "Omigod you like him!" I cover my face with my hand.

"I figured it out slowly over a three day time period." I say smiling. "I knew that I was physically attracted to him that night I ran out after him in the rain and I saw him shirtless. Then I knew I cared about him when I was sick. And this morning when he said he asked out Madge... I realized I wanted it to be me. That I want to date him and have him talk about me to Rory the way he's probably going to talk about her to me tonight."

"Wait, you saw Sergeant Sexy without a shirt?" Rue asks. I nod. "Why was I not informed of this?"

"Because I planned on telling you. But then I had to puke my stomach inside-out." I say.

"Point taken." Rue says.

"You should still ask him about what happened last night." Peeta says. I almost forgot he was here. But that's what I like about my brother; sometimes he's the life of the party, but sometimes he's a wallflower. And he knows when to be both.

"Yeah. YOLO!" Rue says making jazz hands.

"YOLO sucks." I spit.

"Yeah. I know." She agrees.

"Screw YOLO. F.I.S.H." I say.

"What?" Peeta asks.

"Fuck It, Shit Happens." I says slowly. Peeta claps his hands and bursts out laughing.

"You get a free latte for that baby sister." He says, still laughing.

Gale gets home at around ten o'clock This is his average time by now. The lights are dimmed slightly and I sit at the table reading TFioS. Gale turns the lights up all the way.

"Turn that down a little bit. It's hurting my eyes." He doesn't jump at seeing me or hearing my voice.

"Then you need better eyesight Cartwright." Gale says setting his keys on the counter. He looks up at me as I place a bookmark in the novel. "You wear glasses?" He asks. I almost forgot about the cats'-eyes rims framing the thin glass that rests on my nose.

"For reading mostly. Or if I want to get a good look at something." I push them up my nose and look into his eyes. _Is that hinting anything? Was that flirting or subtle hinting?_

"Okay." Gale says. _God John Green you were right, 'okay' is a word dripping with sensuality._

"So how was your day with Madge?" I ask.

"Nice." He says. "She's very kind. But has a tendency to make comments that she thinks are harmless, but are actually a little hurtful towards me."

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"She's the Capitol-Townie hybrid. I'm a Seamster." He says. I understand instantly. All he had to do was drop the the local slang terms and I knew what he meant.

"I got teased a lot for being a Townie. I still do." I blurt.

"I doubt that it was worse than anything I got called. 'Poor boy, coal sack, poor little diamond in the rough'. It was hard dealing with being a Seamster and, y'know." Gale counters. _Yeah. I know. Being a _good-looking_ Seamster._ "What insults could you possibly receive other than things like 'snob' or 'brat'?"

"Try 'if you can go to the country clubs maybe you should try using their gyms'." I reply. He wasn't expecting that. "I mean, I wasn't getting teased about being a sex-god or anything. But it still hurt my feelings." _Oh fuck, did I really just say "sex-god"?_

"I had no idea." Is Gale's quiet response.

"Nobody ever does." I say. Seamsters might have it worse life-wise, but they put their anger to use with words aimed at us Townies.

"I never made fun of Townies unless they said something to me first." Gale says as if that makes anything better. I don't speak. I get up.

"I'm tired." I announce trying to brush past him. Gale grabs my shoulder. Electricity buzzes through me. _Maybe his date was a complete disaster. Maybe he's giving me a second chance. Maybe this talk made him realize that Luna and Draco and connect more easily because of all those months when Luna was trapped in the Malfoys' prison. Because Luna knew Draco better than he knew himself at that time. Because he couldn't help but be drawn to the strange, quirky, younger, slightly attractive girl who didn't want to be there except to observe him._ Gale removes my glasses from my face slowly. The way that I would imagine a guy might take the glasses off a secretary before they have dirty hot passionate sex on his desk in a porno.

"I like your eyes better without the glasses." Gale breaths into my ear. "Even if it magnifies their beauty." _Yep. That's definitely an orgasm. _I take my glasses from his hands- his warm hands that make me melt inside whenever I feel their touch- and walk past him rolling my eyes. _Thank-you Peeta for teaching me to lie._ It takes a long time for me to all asleep. Especially when I have to listen to Gale talk to Madge on the phone for two hours and my suspicions that he was teasing me with the glasses thing are confirmed.


	16. Chapter 16 Opening Night

**I am an updating machine! Clove's play premires at last! Sorry in advance, I suck at writing out plays and such so bear with me. REVEIW PLEASE.**

* * *

_I've been trying to do it right _

_I've been living a lonely life_

_I've been sleeping here instead_

_I've been sleeping in my bed,_

_I've been sleeping in my bed_

The Lumineers, Ho Hey

* * *

Chapter 16- Opening Night

**Gale **

This summer is progressing quicker than I want it to. It's been two weeks since Madge and I started dating. Rory listens to me talk about her and I listen to him talk about Prim. She gave him an "extra special" hug when she heard about him winning the soccer tournament. Vick and Posy like Delly, they hang out with her more than I used to. For some reason, it makes me upset, even though I think I Delly's a good person for both of them to be around.

Katniss will be getting married on August 23, exactly one month and five days from right now. Delly's friend's play premieres tomorrow night at a theatre out of town. She's going to be performing it for the next week and- being their rich selves- her friends have decided to stay at hotel for the week. Of course, mom wants me to go. I said no, that I wanted to be with my family. But then Delly asked me to go so I could help set up and because my truck could carry the props and such. Goddammit when she smiles her eyes light up like a blonde puppy-dog and you can't say no. This is why at four in the morning I'm standing in the parking lot of Hidden Springs Country Club. Nobody's here yet, except for a few old ladies I saw to into a sauna and a group of pretty hot girls- including Foxface- who came here for the Early Bird Yoga. Other than that, it's just a bunch of high-school kids cleaning the pools and getting the club ready. They're all Seamsters and they keep giving me looks because either they know me and don't understand or they think I'm a traitor. Apparently this place has a theatre and that's where Delly's group has been practicing. Delly and Clove are inside getting things to pile into my truck. Foxface is still at yoga. Another truck pulls in. Big, black, and polished. Behind it is a blue hybrid. Peeta comes out of the hybrid. You've got to be kidding me. Well, at least it's not a Prius. Rue and her older brother Crush hop down from the giant gleaming black thing. Next to each other, our trucks look like a red ant and a black bear. Delly and Clove come out of the building carrying folding chairs.

"Hey!" Rue says walking over.

"Help us!" Delly says laughing.

"Get the prop box." Clove tells her. I open up the back of my truck and they throw the chairs in. Rue runs inside. "Okay. Glimmer and Cashmere are taking the convertible, they've got costumes and makeup. Who's Felicia going with again?" Delly pulls a folded piece of paper out of her pocket.

"You Cato and Marvel. You're going in Cato's truck with the programs and posters. We're going to put some up around the area, your mom got the local paper to post an ad, and a radio station is giving away a free set of four tickets. We'll get plenty of publicity, don't worry." Delly pats Clove on the back.

"Le me see that." Clove says pointing to the paper. Delly hands it over. "Me, Marvel, Cato, Foxy in Cato's truck. Then Rue and Thresh with the set. Peeta with props. Glimmer and Cashmere with costumes and makeup. You and Gale with smaller set pieces. Is that everything?"

"I think so." Delly says. Rue throws bean bag chairs into the back of my truck. What the hell is this play even about?

"Anything else I can get?" Rue asks.

"Double check the list with Delly. Peeta and Thresh will get the set." Clove says. "Where the hell is Felicia?"

"Here." She says walking over. "I just called Glimmer. She and Cashmere are brining coffee. So that's why they're late."

"Usually I would get pissed off but we're running late and I really need caffeine." Clove says rubbing her temples. Her phone rings. She picks it up. "Where the fuck are you guys?" Pause. "Get your Adonis-ass over here, I don't give a shit about traffic." Pause. "We need to be there by ten, which really means nine thirty and it's a four hour drive, not counting gas stops and traffic."

"Four hours?" I whisper to Delly.

"You'll soldier through it." She replies.

"I see what you did there Goldilocks." I say.

"It's actually Alice." She says. "Alice in Addiction-Land." I furrow my eyebrows together. "You'll understand if you see the play."

"Unlikely." I say. The freckle-faced killer hears me and whips her head around. Oh shit.

"Gale?" Clove asks. I nod my head. "Okay, that's your name. Go help Peeta and Thresh. The idiot and my boyfriend aren't getting here fast enough for my taste." I'd seen this girl in action during a dodge ball tournament. I didn't want to get on her bad side. I run into the building to help Pita bread and Hulk-Smash. The sets are fairly heavy, and I think I got a splinter, but I manage to get the first third into the monster truck. When we come out with the second- and biggest- piece there stands Miss Legally Blonde in a tiny baby blue skirt and fuchsia lips. Her outfit leaves little to my imagination, mostly because everything to imagine is already exposed. Delly didn't seem to notice me checking her out. But Glimmer did. She smiles at me and wiggles her tongue, playing with the foam in her latte. Her mom handed out steaming cups to everyone but me. Delly holds out her cup to me. I chug about half of it in two seconds.

"Since when do you drink black coffee with just sugar?" I ask.

"Since I knew it was what you like and I brought a can of Arizona tea." She says smiling. Her eyes are her best feature. Cato and Marvel pull into the parking lot. Clove points to the building.

"The last piece of the set is in there." She instructs. "You guys go get the costumes. Foxface and I are going to check over things." Delly follows me into the building but then goes backstage. When the guys and I have finished unloading into Thresh's truck, Delly comes out with a bin full of glittery things. Rue carries five costume bags in each arm. Glimmer has a box of regular clothes. They pile them into the back of Glimmer's Barbie car.

"Did everyone put their suitcases in Peeta's car?" Clove asks.

Everyone's responses mix into, "Yeah-es."

"Let's hit the road then. Follow our lead." She shouts hopping into Cato's SUV. Delly gets into my truck and I rev the engine up. Everyone looks at my growling heap of red rust. Delly simply ties her hair in a ponytail of blonde curls.

"If you watch the play, I'll drive on the way back." She says.

"Okay." I say. "You should know that I don't like other people driving my truck." Delly's face falls. The first car pulls out, Thresh goes second, Glimmer follows, then Peeta, finally Delly and I play the tortoise to Cato's hare. I put my sunglasses on, even though the sun is just beginning to peak. I turn my CD player on, the Lumineers go on shuffle. Ho Hey is first on the list. Delly rolls down her window about one quarter, and it's just the right amount of breeze.

"Do these seats recline?" She asks.

"If they do, it's a surprise to me." I reply somewhat coldly.

"I'm just tired." Delly says cracking open her can of tea. She takes a long sip and places it in the cup holder. Her hand rests on the tiny seat between the two of us. It's not really a seat since there's no seat belt; but during the time when we were dating, once in a blue moon Katniss would sit there, place her head on my shoulder, and curl her legs up where Delly sits when she got really tired. I turn the volume up and Delly begins to doze off.

_So show me family  
All the blood that I will bleed  
I don't know where I belong  
I don't know where I went wrong_

_But I can write a song_

She nods like a bobble-head. Then like a drunk man at a baseball game. One millimeter of the sun is visible, far off in the distance.

_I belong with you, _

_you belong with me, _

_you're my sweetheart_

Her head rests to one side and her eyelids cover her oh-so-blue eyes. Two centimeters of the sun can be seen. The lights begins creeping slowly.

_I belong with you,_

_you belong with me,_

_you're my sweet_

Delly's asleep. Everyone switches lanes. I make my turn as sharp as possible. Two good things come out of this; the driver behind me gets off his cellphone and Delly falls onto my shoulder. The sunlight makes her pale skin glow and her hair becomes spun silk. Who knew a little sunlight could change your perspective on everything?

_I belong with you,_

_you belong with me,_

_you're my sweetheart_

There are moments in life when you say, "This is the first time I'm really experiencing [insert noun or emotion here]. Wow." This is one of those moments. It's the first time I'm really experiencing a sunrise. The first time I could really drive the road blindfolded. The first time I feel like I'm really understanding this song.

_I belong with you,_

_you belong with me,_

_you're my sweet_

Delly wakes up about twenty minutes out of our destination. Clove was incorrect, we didn't have any terrible traffic and there were no gas stops. Her head comes off my shoulder and I'm sad.

"Did I really sleep the whole time?" She asks. I nod. Delly grabs her tea and drinks half of what's left. Dead Sea plays for the third time as we go into a tunnel. It's one of the kinds that takes all of its sound and scoops it up into a funnel. The walls are concrete and the yellow lights create a hazy look. Delly rolls her window down all the way and unbuckles her seatbelt.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shout. The tunnel makes me sound like I'm talking underwater. Delly sticks her body out the window from her waist up. She tilts her head back, pieces of her ponytail come out and whip her in the face. Delly climbs back inside. She's smiling like crazy.

"So that's how Charlie felt." She sighs.

"What?" I ask.

"In one of my favorite books, the main character Charlie goes through a tunnel. A tunnel like this one. Except he stands in the back of a pickup truck rather than putting his head out the window." Delly says. "He says, 'In this moment, we are infinite.' In the movie anyways. In the book he just says 'I feel infinite.' But it's still the same idea. That the moment you're in is life well spent, that you could go on forever."

"Did you feel infinite?" I ask her.

"A little bit." She says smiling. We come out of the tunnel and people walking down the streets notice our trucks filled with sets and costumes and props. Our group comes to the theatre and we drive around back. Clove checks in and the unloading begins. The girls-except for the brunette herself- take in costumes and props. The rest of us carry the set in. Cashmere sets up the dressing rooms with two people per room and their costumes inside. A makeup table sits in the green room. Peeta touches up pieces of the set that have chipped paint. Then he and Marvel check over lighting. Cato sets up the microphones. Delly helps Cashmere iron the costumes. I stand around awkwardly with Thresh. It's almost six when everything is finished.

"We need to run the show." Clove announces.

"We should check into the hotel. Then we can come back and run the show." Marvel suggests. Clove agrees with his idea. Our group of automobiles migrate to the hotel.

I've been to three motels in my life. This place could've been a castle, that's how amazing the experience was. Glimmer and her mom had a room they'd rented on their own. Clove's mom Enobaria had gotten four rooms for the rest of us. After a lot of teasing, complaining, number guessing, and six games of Rock Paper Scissors, they finally divided up the rooms. Clove and Foxface have the first room, next to them is Rue and Delly. Peeta and Cato are across from them. Marvel, Thresh, and me are across from Clove and the redhead. I stay behind when all of them go out and don't come back until almost midnight. I can hear Clove whisper loudly,

"I said I didn't want any hangovers at my premiere!"

"Sorry hon." Marvel says. "I can get him sober by the premiere."

"Alright. Peeta open the door so I can get Cato on the bed." Thresh grumbles.

"I can't. My arms are full." I look through the peep hole. Peeta carries a sleeping Delly. Foxface stands in the doorframe of her room.

"You got him drunk and you slipped that pill in her drink. You guys can fix this." She says pointing at Thresh and Peeta. Who put what in Delly's drink?

"It was for me! We had the same drink and she must've grabbed mine." Peeta says. "Wedding planning keeps me up half the night these days and my doctor gave me a prescription."

"She's not going to die is she?" Rue asks.

"No. She's just going to be knocked out for a while." Peeta responds swiftly. I open the door.

"Give me Delly." I tell Peeta. "You get the drunk into your room." Peeta hands me his little sister carefully. He then opens the door to his room and helps Thresh carry Cato who is mumbling something about a Marilyn and the Solider porno. Oh. He means me and Delly. Rue fumbles with the card and takes a few moments to open he door. Delly nuzzles her head into the crook of my neck. I dip my head down and touch my forehead to hers for a moment and close my eyes. The door opens and I bring my head back up. Rue turns on the light and Delly barely stirs. Whatever pill Peeta put in his drink is strong.

"I'm going to get her retainer." Rue says smiling awkwardly. Delly wears a night retainer? I pull back the sheets and place Delly on the bed. Rue comes forth with a neon yellow piece of plastic and opens it like a clamshell producing a retainer she places in Delly's mouth.

"Isn't that weird for you?" I ask. Rue pulls Delly's skirt off and I look away.

"Once I got so sick, that... I ummm, ruined a pair of shorts." She says. "Delly took care of me. We're sisters. She's dressed you can look now." I turn to face Rue. Big brown eyes and porcelain skin the color of brown sugar. Yes. Her name was definitely on the list.

"You were on my Slag Heap list." I say. Rue blushes a soft pink. "I think I owe you by now anyways." I kiss her softly on each cheek and she smiles, then hugs me.

"I'm going to check on Cato, talk to my brother, and... Y'know." Rue says walking out the door. What does twiggy mean by "y'know"? Is she really going to do that or leave me alone with Delly because she thinks I like her? I set Delly's head on her pillow then pull up her covers. With all the good she's done for me, maybe this is the only way I can repay her. If that's true, I am pathetic. Delly turns over in her bed, exposing a bare shoulder, reaching out for something- possibly in a dream.

"Come back to me." She moans softly. "Don't... ...afraid. Stay." I would love to Delly, believe me. But my physical desires aren't as strong as they used to be and I'm not as attracted to her as I used to be. It's probably because of Madge, and I'm glad in a sense. So I just leave the room.

The next morning everyone means business. Anyone who's acting holds a script and reads it over and over. We break into our driving teams and plaster the town with any posters that didn't find a place last night. Clove micromanages everything from the hanging of the glass-framed poster hanging outside the theatre to the arrangement of the wireless mic battery packs. I stand around backstage helping with whatever I can. They run the play twice and I stay outside smoking for the entire time. Glimmer finds me.

"Hey, just wanted to to know we're setting up now. If you wouldn't mind ushering we could really use the help." She pops the P as much as her bra straps would pop if she tightened them anymore.

"Okay." I say following her in.

"BTW, girls prefer the taste of mint to ashes and smoke." Glimmer whispers.

"Stop flirting and help with costumes!" Cashmere teases. Clove comes forward in a black corset and slip glaring at Glimmer.

"Seriously though, you need to be into your costume and the box of shirts is missing." Clove says. She runs off somewhere. I walk past the dressing rooms and hear the sound of grunting and wheezing. Inappropriate thoughts come to mind.

"Tighter!"

"I'm trying! But the strings are stuck!"

"God, why did Cashmere want me to wear this?!"

"She wanted all of us to wear different corsets! Mine is designed to flatten my already-flat chest and yours is designed to make an hourglass figure."

"And I though PMS was bad!"

"I might ask if I can keep this for those days."

"Ha!" I peek my head into Rue and Delly's dressing room. Rue is dressed in a little white dress and a long silk red cloak. Delly wears a black and blue corset with a fluffy white skirt. Let me remind you; I am a male, I have eyes, I am not blind, Delly is wearing a corset, and you're on my side. So when she stands there with Hooters-worthy cleavage, I have to look.

"Hello Gale." Delly says. For once, her voice isn't the perkiest part of her. She grabs a baby blue dress and pulls it over her head. The neckline is low- cut in a U shape with a little white collar and the skirt fans out over the fluffy underskirt.

"Hey." I say. "If I watch tonight will you never let me hear the end of it?" Delly breaks into a huge smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She says hugging me. "It's really important to Clove that a lot of people show up."

"Rue, you're up for makeup." Cashmere says peeping her head inside the dressing room.

"Yay!" Rue says skipping past me. Delly grabs a pair of knee-high black and white striped socks and slips into a pair of black Mary Janes with white bows. She walks past me and heads toward Glimmer and Marvel's dressing room. Only Glimmer is still there.

"Hey, could you check my curling iron?" She asks Delly.

"It's hot."

"Perfect. Wanna help me out?" Delly is already curling Glimmer's hair. I walk out, bored with the two blondes playing hair salon. I walk into the Green Room to find Rue applying false eyelashes as Cashmere paints her lips as bright as her cloak. Clove is still running around in her slip trying to micromanage.

"Clove, you need to get into your costume the doors are open. People are coming in already." Cashmere says.

"We did a mic check, everything's good to go." Cato says peeking his head around the corner.

"Get in the sound booth." Clove snaps. He obeys. "I'm going to get the rest of my costume on. Finish Rue's makeup because you've still to do mine, Delly's, and your daughter's. Where the fuck is Foxface?" Clove wanders off. Rue ties her hair into pigtails with red ribbons. Glimmer comes scurrying into the room. Cashmere applies bright pink lipstick, cats' eyes eyeliner, and false eyelashes. Delly wears baby blue eyeshadow, eyeliner, and soft pink lipgloss. She glues her eyelashes on when Clove comes into the room and Cashmere begins work on her. Foxface is behind her dressed in a gold bikini top and a shimmering blue skirt designed to look like a mermaid tail. She flat-irons Delly's hair. Oh. Fairy Tale characters. I get it now. I go out the back door and in through the front.

"Ticket." Says the teenage zombie at the desk.

"I'm a friend of one of the actors." I say. He nods onward the door. Cool. Only a third of the theatre is full. And half of that third look like parents. I take a seat close to the back and wait awhile. The lights dim. The stage is an octagon shape comes out into the seats like a peninsula. There's no curtain, the set stands there. It looks like a shrink office. The door opens and Marvel sashays onstage with a clipboard in hand. His outfit is something that would get you beat up in middle school. Bow tie, sweater vest, khakis, clean shoes, hipster glasses.

"Oh, mahye Gohd. The girls are going to be here any minute now!" His voice is so gay. I don't mean to be offensive, but he's gay. Marvel sticks a "HELLO MY NAME IS" sticker to his shirt. I glance at my program.

Quentin Coler... Marvel Quaid

Snow White "Winter"... Clove Fuhrman

The Little Mermaid "Shelia"... Felicia Emerson

Alice in Wonderland "Alice"... Delilah Cartwright

Little Red Riding Hood "Scarlett"... Rue Stenburg

Sleeping Beauty "Rose"... Glimmer Rambin

Stage Crew

Peeta Mellark, Cato Ludwig, Thresh Stenburg, Cashmere Rambin

While reading the program I missed half the entrances. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid are already onstage.

"So, once everyone gets here we'll start. We're missing two..." Marvel trails off. We hear a loud scream from offstage. "Ohmigod what the fuck was that?!" I laugh little. SB falls asleep. "What happened?"

"She's narcoleptic." Snow answers. TLM continues brushing her hair and humming. SB wakes up.

"I'm fine." She announces. Someone screams again. Alice opens the door and closes it behind her.

"Please! She's going to kill me!" She screams grabbing Quentin by the collar. "The Queen wants my head!" Something in the distance catches her attention. "Oh look, the rabbit is back. Hop, hop, hop..."

"Okay then. Just one." Quentin mutters. Snow gets up and begins wiping things down with disinfectant wipes. SB is asleep. Alice continues to state at things we can't see while TLM combs her hair. Red makes an entrance skipping in, then crying when she sees a wolf. It reminds me of my therapy group. They go around the circle stating their names and problems.

"Hi, I'm Quentin. I'll be your guide for these next few weeks."

"Call me Winter. I have OCD."

"I'm Sheila! I'm here because I have 'communication' issues."

"Alice. Drug addict."

"I'm Scarlett. Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with schizophrenia."

"I'm Rose and-" snore. Normally I'd think something like this is stupid. But this is hilarious. And not just because I'm watching Delly portray a drug addict. The play goes on. It's clearly a dark comedy, and reminds me of Silver Linings Playbook. The funniest moments include Scarlett's random bursts of "HOLY SHIT THE WOLF!", Winter cleaning everything, and all of Quentin's stereotype gay moments. There's a fifteen minute intermission and then the play continues. After everyone returns with modern day outfits resembling their elaborate costumes Quentin narrates a series of "where are they now?"s. A single spotlight on an otherwise dark stage. Only Marvel's voice- his voice- is heard.

"Rose met a nice young man. Several nice young men actually." He begins. Glimmer steps forward in a low cut pink dress. She removes a diamond ring from her ring finger. "She's had four husbands, Rose keeps waiting for the right guy to break the spell." She falls backward as if about to sleep and lands in Cato's arms. They walk off stage together. Rue steps into the light in a jean skirt and a red hoodie. "Scarlett came to realize that her dead grandmother wasn't coming back. And the wolf was just a figment of her imagination. It was really her fear of death chasing her around. She leads a normal life as your stereotypical teenage girl. But every now and then, she still sees them." Rue smiles and a single tear falls down her cheek. She skips out. "Winter has made several appearances on different reality shows about OCD. But last year after eating an unwashed apple, her body didn't know how to react to the germs. She met a doctor and they are now married with seven children." Clove steps into the circle applying Purell to her hands and walks out of it just as fast. "Nobody has seen Alice for a long time. Some people say she overdosed or committed suicide. Others say she ran away somewhere." Delly steps into the circle sticking a needle into her arm her head snaps up, eyes wide and crazy. "I guess she just couldn't stop." She runs off. "After working things out with her dad, Sheila finally married the man she wanted to. They're trying for a baby." Peeta carries Foxface bridal style into he circle. He kisses her on the cheek and they exit the stage. "As for me, I still think about my friends I met in that special group. I think there's a piece of all of them in us." Marvel steps into the spotlight. "My parents still don't accept me. But there is one man who does." Thresh steps into the circle. With goofy smiles they hug each other.

"I love you man!" He says.

"I love you too!" Marvel says back. "My daddy always told my sister, there's no guy out there in tights unless he's looking for another guy in tights. I guess he was right.

"While fairytales remind us of our childhood, they give us expectations and ideas to live up to. We might want to revisit them, but we need to live our lives and not theirs. Here, now and in this moment. You can't live in the past and it's useless to always think for the future. Sometimes you just need to go somewhere you've never been, or take things from a stranger, disobey you parents. If you don't let go of things- even things we hold dear- then life is useless. So while we thought that our princesses and princes were telling us otherwise, they were teaching us messages hidden in cryptic message. It just boils down to this; while we need to remember, it's important to forget and live on." The lights go down. They come back on and the cast takes their bows. Then the stage crew. Then everyone together.

"The end!" They all shout when it's done. The audience is small, but we give them a standing ovation.


	17. Chapter 17 Realization

**Two chapters in two days! You know the drill, please review. **

**ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A PRETTY PRINCESS. SHE WROTE A FANFIC BUT DIDN'T GIVE A DISCLAIMER. THE COMPANIES THAT PUBLISHED THE STORY SUED HER FOR EVERYTHING SHE OWNED. THEN SHE DIED. HONOR HER LEGACY BY ADDING A DISCLAIMER SO YOU WON'T DIE AFTER BEING SUED. **

**I won't own The Hunger Games. If I did, this would've been a cannon pairing.**

* * *

_This is the part of me_

_That you're never gonna ever take away from me_

Katy Perry

* * *

Chapter 17- Realization 

**Delly**

On the first night Clove was heartbroken over the size of our audience. Every night after was a full house with people standing in the back and sneaking in. They laughed at us and cried with us. The local newspaper published a raving review. We still have four shows left, but only because we added two matinees to our last two days.

The pop of the champagne cork sends shouts and cheers throughout our group. Clove kisses Marvel on the mouth as he pours her a glass. We all stand and sit around in the Green Room. Four hours till showtime, but we know the drill by now. Clove takes a seat on Marvel's lap as she passes the bottle to Glimmer. The bottle makes its way around and I take tiny sips from the small glass I have. This is what it's like to drink the stars. Cato and Thresh fiddle with the radio and Peeta enters carrying a tray of tiny floral frosted cookies and a newspaper. He hands the newspaper to Foxface and sets the tray down on the table. Peeta hugs me from behind the waist and rests his chin in my shoulder.

"Do you want my alcohol big brother?" I ask. "I'm underage."

"I know you are." He says taking my glass and downing it in one gulp. "Here." Peeta hands me three different cookies that I know must be vegan.

"Best. Brother. Ever." I say. Peeta kisses me on the cheek and sits by Glimmer who eyes the cookies. Cato sits down and pulls me into his lap.

"Babe, we don't see each other enough." He says.

"We don't." I agree. "So have you asked her to the wedding yet?"

"No." Cato says. "I'm just so... Playboy and she's so Felicia."

"You'll never know if you don't ask her." I say. Cato shrugs.

"Listen up people!" Marvel says in his Quentin voice. "The front page news story from theatre critic Caesar Flickerman,

'Faireality Tales Is Funny With A Dose Of Nostalgia

While we've seen several movies that put a dark twist on Fairy Tales, none of them amount to this. A play written by college student Clove Fuhrman about our favorite characters essentially in rehab talking about problems. The story follows no particular plot, but makes perfect sense. The first night I saw it, I fell in love. The second night some of my favorite jokes were missing replaced by new ones that were- in some cases- better. The play is mostly improv while following the same idea each night. The actors have their characters nailed down to a point. In particular, I have to say great job to Marvel Quaid who plays Quentin Coler. Quentin is the very gay shrink and Quaid knows how to be funny, crisp, and doesn't overdo it. He is real and seems to understand the fairy tale characters, which makes you relate to them through him. The body language of Delilah Cartwright- who plays a drug addicted Alice in Wonderland- is spectacular. At some points I wondered if she did drugs in real life. Fuhrman also acts in her play, as Snow White, and knows how to keep things balanced. The casting is divine with superb costumes and makeup. We open with the flashy romantic outfits that little girls would love to wear on Halloween and the closing contains everyday clothes in the style of each character. It made me wonder if Fuhrman was trying to show that the princesses and such weren't really characters, but real people. This would explain why each character had a regular name. But that should remain a mystery I believe. All in all, the play makes you rethink what the brothers Grimm might have been trying to say. Anyone who goes to see it will have a happily ever after to their night. Only four words are necessary here, 'Bravo. Take a bow.' "

"Wow." Clove says. "They love us."

"They love you." Marvel says hugging her. "And me and Delly."

"Congrats you two." Thresh says.

"It's a team effort." I say raising my (newly refilled) glass. "To theatre."

"To theatre!" Everyone else shouts. We clink glasses.

* * *

My costume is on and I'm next in line for makeup as I finish straightening my hair. Cashmere waves me over. I look up for eyeliner, close my eyes for eyeshadow, pout my lips for the gloss, and make a fishy face for blush. I apply my false eyelashes. Rue runs over to me.

"Gale's here again." She says.

"He's seen it every night so far." I state. "I know he's here."

"That's not all." Rue bites her ruby lip. "Madge is here with him."

"What?" I almost shout.

"He must've called her today or something." Rue says. "He's not coming back to the hotel room tonight. She's staying here until noon tomorrow. They've got a room together one floor above us."

"Oh." I say. _She's staying. He asked her here. They have a room together. They're having sex. They are having sex. Either they are or tonight will be the first of many times. Gale and Madge are going to make love to each other. It hits me for the first time that they like each other. Maybe he's said "I love you" already. He probably tells her she's beautiful._

"Delly?" Rue asks.

"I'm fine." I say. "I mean really, it wasn't going to happen anyways. He's too old for me. And he's really hot. Gale's a ten and I'm maybe a seven or six. Eight if I'm wearing the right dress." Rue hugs me. "Thanks." I say.

"No problem." She says. "Forget him. We're going to be seniors next year. And you're super hot now. Getting a guy will be easy." The idea makes me feel better. Marvel walks in.

"We just ran out of t-shirts. There's almost nothing left to sell. Thank God Clove insisted on taping the dress rehearsals. People love us."

"So do we." Says a deep voice from behind. Marvel turns around.

"Dads!" He screams. Hugging Brutus and Gloss, his adoptive gay parents. "You guys said you weren't coming until tomorrow!"

"We decided to come today." Brutus says. Marvel hugs them again.

"I called them." Clove says walking into the room. "If random people are coming to see you night after night, I think your dads should too."

"Thanks Clove." Marvel says kissing her.

"No PDA in front of the parents." Gloss says jokingly. He hands Marvel flowers. "We know you're going to do tests o we got you these. Sorry there isn't anything more manly." Marvel smiles.

"I love flowers!" He says in his Quentin voice.

"We need to get in our seats. Break a leg son." Brutus says.

"Bring pride to the gay community!" Gloss shouts as they exit. Seeing Marvel get excited reminds me how much I love this. The show is fun and it's why I'm here. So who cares if Gale brought his girlfriend here? This is what I love doing. So I'm going to have fun with it.

* * *

**Yeah, fillers suck. I know. But I bet you didn't see that coming! I was trying to think of different parent setups that I haven't seen in any other AUs I've read, and then that happened. Haha. Next chapter soon and it will be a double update! And it will be good.**


	18. Chapter 18 Final Fitting

**Okay, after the next chapter there will be a good amount of time before the next update. I'm going to Chicago and New York and I need to update my other fics anyways. So I thought I'd give you these next two before any of that. Review please my lovelies. **

* * *

_I had to find you,_

_Tell you I need you,_

_Tell you I set you apart_

_Tell me your secrets_

_And ask me your questions,_

_Oh let's go back to the start_

Coldplay, The Scientist

* * *

Chapter 18- Final Fitting

**Delly**

As if the success of the play itself wasn't good enough, we got invited to do it again next summer. Clove accepted the invitation. A talent scout saw Marvel and asked him to audition for a possible Avenue Q revival. Cato asked Felicia to the wedding at a celebratory cocktail party at Marvel's house. She said yes. Katniss met everyone and looked as radiant as the sun in her gorgeous red dress. My last fitting for my bridesmaid dress is today. The wedding is in less than a month. Therapy group ended but we all promised to keep in touch. It turns out the Haymitch is Katniss' uncle too. I'm really happy with my life. Peeta calls me at around noon.

"Hey baby sister." He says.

"Hello big brother." I reply.

"I get to see you in your dress today." Peeta says. "And we're going to Skype mom and dad so they can too."

"Yay!" I say. "Your fiancé has great taste in color. The green she picked is so lush and earthy."

"I haven't seen it yet, but I makes me want to paint something." Peeta says. "Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Sure. You know the address." I say.

"You'll have to get home yourself though. I have to stay behind for my suit." Peeta says. "Can you do that?"

"No problem. I wish mom and dad would just get me a car already!"

"I know. I'll see you in twenty."

"Okay." I skip out of my room and knock on Gale's door.

"What?" He moans.

"Would you be able to pick me up at around one thirty from a bridal shop? I'm getting a ride there." I ask softly. There's a pause for a moment.

"Is it the same place as last time?" His voice is kinder.

"Yeah." I say.

"What time?"

"One thirty."

"Sure."

"Thank-you."

I stand in my changing stall looking down at the green silk still not liking what I see. Throughout middle school when all my friends and enemies hit puberty I got jealous. I would dream about losing weight and magically having a perfect hourglass figure. Now that I've lost weight I've discovered something awful. I have a boy-shaped body. My torso is a bit longer than I'd like it and it makes my legs appear short as well. If it weren't for the 36 C cup I wear, you wouldn't even know I'm female. I place my hands on my non-hips and sigh.

"Oh well." I mutter. I open the curtain to my changing stall and walk out standing in front of four mirrors that remind me I don't have a waist in different angles. Prim follows after. She's thin and leggy, even if there isn't much going on upstairs for her, she looks lovely. The green of the dress brings out the pink in her cheeks making her look like the Primrose she was named after.

"You look beautiful." Katniss says to her sister. "And no more duck tails." Prim laughs.

"It's a little loose on the top." She says.

"That's how it's supposed to fit." Says Cinna, Katniss' godfather and the designer of the dresses. "But if it really bothers you Prim, I can have it fixed."

"Okay." She says smiling. The dresses are a beautiful emerald-forest green, they fall like silk waterfalls down the shoulders and back into drapes, the rest is skin-tight and falls to the knees.

"I love it Cinna." I say finally. "But I think it's on backwards."

"Why's that?" He asks.

"It's a little high up back here," I say turning around and showing my back. "and pretty low cut here." I say pointing at the front. Everyone laughs.

"I don't need my sister flashing the guests." Peeta says smiling at Cinna."

"Just tell me where you want the fabric to fall and I'll take care of it." He says walking over.

"Here." I say touching the small of my back. "And here." I place my index finger about four inches above where the current neckline is.

"No problem." Cinna says. "The dress will still keep its built-in bra and the length will stay the same. Okay?"

"Okay." Prim and I say in unison.

"You look beautiful sweetie." My mom says from the computer." Katniss your choice in color is beautiful.

"You should see the orange roses Peeta picked for the corsages and centerpieces. It's like a sunset." Katniss says.

"And they go perfectly together." Peeta says kissing her forehead. I smile at seeing them together. "I'm going to head into the other room for my suit."

"I'm coming with!" I say in a singsong voice. Peeta leaves. "Okay, you guys are good now."

"I'll go get it." Cinna says leaving the room.

"I'm going to change into my regular clothes." Prim says. She hands me mine. "Change in one of the stalls in the other room. Just stall him."

"Okay." I say. Cinna comes back in with a black garment bag for Katniss.

"Thanks Cinna." She says they go into the largest stall and he helps her change. I have to keep Peeta busy while Katniss tries on her dress. Both of them are very superstitious and today was the best shot and having Katniss try it on for the last time. I haven't seen her in the dress yet, but I'm kind of glad. I'll just get the full effect on the real day. I run into the other hall while Peeta tries on his suit with my pile of clothes in hand.

* * *

**Gale**

I've been sitting in my truck for about ten minutes. Given that I was twenty minutes early, but I have a reason. You need to do this. If you don't do it now, you never will. I take off my sunglasses and open the door. I walk in and take deep breaths. I follow my instincts and take the first right. She's there. She looks beautiful.

In her wedding dress.

It's her mother's, I recognize it from the photos that hung in their house. Katniss looks better in it than Clara did. Maybe I think that because I was in love with her. But I don't really care. She looks gorgeous. Cinna tells her to twirl and everyone is in awe.

"I don't think there's anymore tailoring to be done." He says after a moment.

"You look beautiful." Prim whispers. Katniss looks in the mirrors.

"Thank you Prim." She replies. "I'm getting married. Gosh Cinna, mom, this is so pretty."

"I always wanted you to wear it." Clara says placing a hand over her mouth. She tears up a little. I walk into the room. Katniss sees me in the mirror. She turns around.

"Gale." She says shocked. "Could we have a moment alone?" She asks everyone. Prim walks past me and gives me a hug.

"It's been too long." She says.

"I know." I say. We used to be so close. Clara looks at me.

"Are you... Good?" She asks.

"For now, I am. Thank you." I say. Prim lets go and they leave. I walk slowly over to Katniss. "I'm not here asking you to take me back."

"I know. I heard you're with Madge." She says.

"Yeah." I say. "I just want to let you know that I'm happy for you. This needs closure. I'm giving it to you." Katniss wipes her eyes.

"I never meant to hurt you Gale." She says. "I really did love you. But things changed."

"I know. Things changed for me too." I say. "I'll always care about you. But congratulations. I hope you two are happy together."

"We are." Katniss says. "Thank you Gale." She hugs me, and everything feels okay. "Delly's down the hall if you're looking for her."

"Thanks." I say. I exit the room and I feel great. I can hear voices coming from the men's fitting area.

"Okay. Go ahead, see you in a few days then." I think that was Peeta. I peek my head around the corner slowly. I see him exit through a back door. I look around for Delly, but I don't see her. I enter the room and glance around. Then I see her feet under a curtain in one of the changing stalls. I walk over and I stop.

There's a gap between the wall and the curtain. Her back faces me. She only has her shorts on. Delly pulls on her bra and then her shirt. She pulls back the curtain.

"Oh hey Gale." Delly says smiling. _You didn't see me? Please tell me you didn't see me._ "You're early."

"Yeah." I mumble.

"I think I can leave now, Peeta and Cinna are just going to talk." She says. _Have you always been this beautiful? Or was it just because I saw you naked from behind ten seconds ago?_

"Okay. Let's go." I say. We walk out the the car. I roll the windows down and pull on my sunglasses. Delly turns Mumford & Sons up.

"I love this song." She says leaning her head back. The wind whips her hair around her face. Does Delly look more beautiful than Katniss? By God she does. You just saw Katniss Everdeen in her wedding dress, but this child looks more beautiful in shorts and a t-shirt with her wild curls blowing in her face. You find Delilah Cartwright attractive. Delly places her hand out the window and hums softly to the music.

"I will wait I will wait for you." She closes her eyes and smiles. I watch her for awhile. She tips her head back and there hair follows behind her a golden shadow. Delly opens her eyes and smiles wider at me. I want her to smile at me like that all the time. I want her to wait for me. I just want her. This is crazy. I just said goodbye to my ex who I loved more than anyone else. I'm dating a perfect girl who's helping me get through pain and depression. This isn't love. It's lust. I don't love Delly or even like her in that sense. I only see her differently because of how amazing her bare back looks.

"Lost in though?" Delly asks smirking.

"I guess so." I laugh. Lost in fantasy is more like it. We get to the house and Delly heads to her room to work on her speech. I take a seat at the kitchen table and pick up the cream colored card-stock with gold edges.

_You are invited to the marriage ceremony of_

_Katniss Everdeen_

_and_

_Peeta Mellark_

_August 23, 2013 3PM-12AM_

_1409 Mockingbird Lane, 30345_

_We hope to see you there!_

I let out I long sigh. Rory sees me at the table.

"Yeah. It came in the mail while you were gone." He says taking the seat next to me. "She's getting married."

"I know." I say.

"Mom wants us to go. Because she's our friend." Rory adds.

"I talked to her today." I say. "It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I mean, it feels kind of dead between us. But maybe her leaving me and me getting over her cancelled each other out and we're not going to be able to be really happy for each other for awhile. But I am happy for her."

"Then why do you look so sad?" Rory asks.

"I... saw Delly today." I begin. Rory nods for me to continue. "She was... topless. I saw her from behind and now whenever I look at her, I get this weird feeling."

"Wow." Rory says. "Did you get a hard-on?"

"What the fuck kind of a question is that?!" I ask a little louder than planned.

"The kind I think in my brain and say with my mouth." Rory retorts.

"No need to be a smart-ass." I mumble. "And yes, I think I might have. I was too busy realizing 'holy shit there's a half-naked girl in front of me' and wiping the drool from my mouth." I admit.

"Well then, that explains everything. That 'weird feeling' is a term I picked up in middle school. People don't like using after high school for reasons unknown."

"What is it?" I ask.

"It's called a crush Gale." Rory says. "I have one on Prim."

"No, I don't like her like that. It's just lust and hormones."

"Wake up and smell the coffee brother!" Rory shouts. "You're twenty one, puberty is done for you! And so what if it is love? You have this weird problem with lust and love but you won't admit it. And it's only with Delly. I don't get why you seem so keen on not ever liking her or finding her hot. She's a really great person, she's genuinely trying to help you and you don't even care! Madge is doing her best, bless her heart, but she doesn't get you because she can't. She doesn't know hardships."

"Neither does Delly." I snap.

"She lost her fucking dad when she was ten years old. He left her and her mom and took her little brother." Rory snaps back. "Don't give me that 'she doesn't know hardships' crap. It's a load of bullshit and you know it."

"First, don't curse at me. Ever. And second, we lost our dad too. He died. He was killed."

"Mom could at least tell us, 'Your father loved you very much. He never wanted to leave us.' What the hell do you think Delly's mom told her? How did Delly cope with it?" Rory says. "I've seen the way you two are around each other. You need her, and I think she needs you too. You're just too much of a jackass to see it."

"What's going on?" Delly asks coming out of her room. Her eyes are blue, beautiful, innocent, unknowing.

"Nothing." Rory says. "According to Gale anyways." He leaves. I walk towards the fridge and pull out the wine.

"Why do you drink?" Delly asks softly.

"My dad was killed by a guy who had like fourteen beers. After that, I promised myself I would never drink one as long as I lived." I say taking the cork out. I grab the tallest glass I can find. "Liquor burns and gets you drunk too easily. I want to enjoy the ride, nice and slow. Plus wine doesn't taste too bad coming back up."

"Not why do you drink wine, why do you drink at all?" Delly says.

"Because if I didn't I might dehydrate." I say taking a few gulps of my first glass.

"Don't be a smart ass." Delly snaps. "I'm trying to help you."

"I don't want your help!" I shout. "And I don't want you." Delly walks over and takes the bottle from me. I keep drinking from my glass. She tries to take it too. I pull back and spill half of what's left on both of us. I pretend not to notice her shirt is see-through now. Delly manages to get it out of my grip and it falls to the floor.

"Just fucking great." I mutter. "Look what you did."

"I didn't do this, you did too so don't act so angelic."

"Me acting angelic? That's a hoot! What next, are you going to be an ass hole?"

"Oh shut up." She snaps. "You push away everyone who tries to help you." Delly walks forward and slaps me. Dammit she knows how to slap someone.

"Owww!" I shout.

"Quit being such a bastard and open your fucking eyes!" Delly screams.

"Oh, using fucking curse words and shit like that aren't we? Aren't you a little smart-ass? Well two can play at that game bitch." I snap. She stops fuming. God, don't cry. If I made you cry I'll never forgive myself. Her eyes are brimming with tears, like a glass filled with water waiting to spill over.

"God. What happened to you Gale Hawthorne?" Delly whispers.

"My girlfriend got engaged at the same time I accidentally killed my best friend." I say lowly. I look down. I can't look at her.

"I'm sorry." She says.

"That doesn't do me any good." I say.

"It does." Delly sighs. "You just don't realize it." She leaves without another word. I'm left alone to pick up the broken glass.

* * *

**I know Katniss was slightly OOC, that is all me. However, I feel if she were in modern times HAPPY about getting married to Peeta rather than being forced into it by EVIL PRESIDENT SNOW she might react that way to seeing herself in her mother's wedding dress. So yeah, that's my lame excuse for writing the main character OOC. Feel free to hate in the reviews. But in the similar words of someone else who wasn't really wiser, "plez don't flame prepz!"**


	19. Chapter 19 The Unbelievable

**To everyone who reviews and PMs me about their questions, concerns, and joys about this story: Thank you so much. Without people who enjoy my stories I would delete them or leave them unfinished forever. I didn't think this would be popular at all, I thought I would get maybe fifteen reviews and four or five favorites. I have over twice as many for both and I can't tell you how happy it makes me. Since this was published, the number of Gally fics went from six to thirteen. That is amazing. I just wanted to take this moment to thank all of you and ask that you keep reviewing and asking questions and such.**

**This chapter is why The Unexpected is rated M. Just a fair warning. I do think you'll enjoy it though...**

* * *

_And it was not your fault but mine_

_And it was your heart on the line_

_I really fucked it up this time_

_Didn't I my dear?_

_Didn't I my dear_

Mumford and Sons, Little Lion Man

* * *

Chapter 19- The Unbelievable

**Delly**

Three days until Peeta's wedding. Two days until my parents come home. Tonight is Katniss' bachelorette party. Basically it's me, Prim, and Katniss wearing little black dresses and dining at a fancy restaurant paid for by Katniss' wonderful fiancée. Katniss orders a bottle of champagne for herself and ends up sharing it with Prim and me. Prim mixes hers in with the lemonade she ordered. I mix mine with sparkling water. Neither of us wants to be hungover tomorrow. (Even though I do end up a little tipsy) The food is excellent, and that's saying something coming from a chef who's also a picky vegan. Prim sees a few guys who look like high school seniors. I recognize them from the local prep school. They flirt with her and she blushes.

"Do I really look that old?" She asks shyly. The waitress comes by with a dessert menu. Katniss picks it up and glances over it.

"You're wearing makeup, a little black dress, and two inch heels. Plus, you're tall to begin with. I'd say yes." Katniss says smirking. "Not that it matters. Because they aren't Rory Hawthrone."

"Prim's got a boyfriend." I say. She blushes and Katniss laughs. I like her laugh. It's full and loud. It's the kind of laugh that when you're feeling uncomfortable- because you're wearing five inch heels with black eyeliner and red lipstick, things that you usually don't wear- she makes you feel like you're at your high school lunch table. Katniss keeps to quiet but underestimates herself. Peeta is friendly and knows how to talk to people. They're perfect for each other.

"He did promise to dance with me at the wedding so I think he's going to ask me out." Prim mumbles.

"You could always ask him out." Katniss says. She pauses for a moment. "I'm looking at this menu and I have no clue what to get." She says holding it up for us to see. "I was thinking the truffle strawberries or tiramisu. Peeta doesn't make either of those so I don't have to worry about comparing them to his."

"Smart." I say. I haven't broken my vegan-ness for awhile, so I figure I can splurge.

"I say strawberries, they're in season right now so it should be great." Prim says. Our waitress comes by, as if on cue and Katniss orders our final course.

"They're looking at you now." Katniss whispers me.

"Really?" I ask. She nods.

"That means they like you." Prim says. "Because they haven't seen the front of your dress."

"Prim!" I say slapping her shoulder lightly. She's referring to the plunging v-neck in the metallic silver-black fabric of my dress. I roll my eyes at her. "So where are you an Peeta going for your honeymoon?" I ask.

"We're going to Hawaii." Katniss says. "Peeta keeps talking about how the beach by the hotel we're staying at is fantastic."

"Then I'll make sure that we pack a hot swimsuit in your suitcase." Prim says smirking.

"Oh no little duck, you aren't supposed to know a about that until you're at least a junior!" Katniss says mockingly. The waitress comes by with the strawberries. For once in my life, I'm happy about eating dessert.

"Peeta should learn how to make these." I say. "Because he makes the best of everything."

"Does it even get better than this?" Prim asks as strawberry juice drips down her chin.

"Very attractive." Katniss teases wiping it with he napkin. Our waitress comes by.

"Your meal has been paid for, so you can leave at any time." She says smiling. Katniss nods her head.

"I'm going to take Prim home now. All of our embarrassing relatives are coming to brunch tomorrow." She moans.

"You're coming right?" Prim asks.

"Of course." I say. She smiles.

"Do you need a ride?" Katniss asks. I'm about to say yes when something catches my eye.

"No thanks." I say.

"Okay. See you at eleven tomorrow." She says as she and Prim get up to leave. I follow and exit the restaurant. My instincts were right. It's him.

"Gale?" I ask running out to him. He turns around. He's drunk. Very. I glance around seeing a bar with a neon-lit sign. People stand outside of it smoking.

"Delilah!" He practically shouts. "Whatterrr you doing herrr?"

"How much have you had to drink?" I ask.

"Juss like ten shos." Gale slurs. He leans against a street light.

"Of tequila?" I ask. He shrugs and leans farther to the left. I take his arm and put it over my shoulder. Dammit he's heavy. I reach into Gale's pocket.

"Thaa tickles." He mumbles. I pull out his keys and listen for his truck. After a few moments of Marco Polo between the truck and me, I find it one block away. I basically throw Gale into the seat and manage to buckle his seatbelt. I put the keys in the ignition and I drive. "Wherrrer we goin?" He asks.

"My house." I say. "I have the key my in my purse. I'll make up a lie about staying out all night with Katniss and Prim. I'm not going to let your family see you like this." I say.

Only the backyard of my house has been touched, I can see the skeleton of the wedding has been made. A small arch for the alter is there as well as the tent poles with the large white canopy. Tomorrow the dance floor is going to be put in. I drag Gale into my house and set him on the couch. I consider changing into better clothes, but the idea of Gale vomiting while I'm not around stops me. I sit across from him. After a few moments he gets up and runs to the bathroom faster than anyone I've ever seen, let alone a drunk person. I stand by the bathroom door and listen to sounds that I didn't think we're humanly possible. After sputtering and gasping Gale takes two steps out of the bathroom and collapses. I gingerly step over him in my heels and flush the toilet then spray a good amount of Febreze. Gale moans and turns his head to the side. I look in the medicine cabinet for a first aid kit and pull it out. Then I drag- literally drag him by one arm- into the living room and I manage to prop him upright on the left of the love-seat. I wipe any vomit away from Gale's mouth. It's gross, but somebody had to do it. I think about my options. I can go upstairs and grab my clothes and change. I could also steal a few things from my dad's closet for Gale since there's an unidentified stain on Gale's shirt and a splotch of vomit on his pants. Do I put myself first or Gale? Gale, once he's stable I can put on any sweats I want. That brings up the problem of my schoolgirl crush. Surely it's every girls' dream to be able to undress someone as attractive as Gale while he's unconscious. I've seen the guy without a shirt and I think it's unfair that he looks like that without being famous or photoshopped. I run upstairs and find an old black t-shirt. Then flannel pajama pants that were probably blue once, but have faded to a more gray color. I've never seen Christian wear either of them. I clack down the stairs- why haven't I taken my heels off? Gale's still sleeping and I begin my awkward journey into pure pleasure. _Which would be less weird to start with pants or shirt? Pants... I think. Just get it done with Delilah. How do you expect to be a nurse if you can't get through this?_ So I plunge right in. I reach for Gale's belt unbuckling and removing it. I untie his old converse and pull them off. His socks go with them. I reach for his zipper when he moans and I have a heart attack. _Oh God don't wake up while my hand is near your crotch._ He doesn't and I unzip his pants pulling his jeans off and throwing them into what will become the pile of dirty clothes. Thank you Gale, for wearing your baggiest boxers today. I grab the flannel pants and manage to pull them halfway up before Gale shows any signs of consciousness.

"Heeeeeeey Blondie." He mumbles. I pull the pants all the way up. "So eagerrrrrr arenwe?" Gale slips back into his booze blackout. I attempt taking his shirt off from behind and manage about two thirds before the sleeves get tangled in his arms. I just pull until it comes off and I stumble back. Right. High heels. I remove my torture shoes and throw the shirt into my pile. Gale's wearing an undershirt-tank-top- thing. It looks clean. _To remove or not to remove?_ He pukes a little more and it falls down his chin. _Remove._ I grab another set of tissues and wipe his face. _This is how mothers feel about their babies I guess._ I grab the bottom of the undershirt and pull.

...

...

...

_Oh shit how long have I been staring at him?_ I'm still gripping the piece of white fabric in my hand. I throw that into the pile and pull the black shirt over his head. I take the pile of clothes into the laundry room and start the washer. I go back outside because I forgot to lock the truck. Not that this is the neighborhood where you need to do that, but I really need the fresh air. I walk over to the truck to lock it and find needles. Two of them are empty, one of them isn't. I know that it's morphine. I grab all three and lock the doors. I run back inside as Gale begins to stir. I unpin my hair and run my fingers through it a few times. I sit on the couch and curl my legs up. Gale smiles at me, it's his smile, but too hazy.

"Hi." He says. I hold up the needles.

"Where did you get these?" I ask. Gale reaches to them.

"Where did you get those?" He counters.

"Your truck." I snap. "Morphine is illegal as a recreational drug, which is how you are using it. I'll ask again. Where. Did. You. Get these?"

"Clara." Gale says reaching for the last full needle. I get up and take them into the kitchen. Gale falls off the couch trying to stand up. He won't be getting anywhere near his drugs tonight.

"Clara Everdeen gave you morphine?" I ask. Gale manages to pull himself back onto the couch. He nods. He's not as drunk as before. Maybe it's the puking.

"She think itsss for something ellllsse." Gale says. That's nice in sense, at least she wasn't giving it to him just because. "I got hit whileIwasoutthere nnnd they put me on that stuff. That's how I got addicted."

"You need to stop." I say walking towards him. "If it's not for yourself, for your family at least. Some people work nine to five, your mom works five to nine and then some. Vick is the shyest boy I've ever met. Both he and Rory look up to you. Posy is just a little girl. Do you want her to remember you as her drunk older brother? She sees you as a hero, don't let her down Gale Hawthorne."

"Okay." His response suggests he's sober, but I can tell he's not. Gale stands up. "Imthinking of dumping Madge."

"Why?" I ask.

"She tries so harrr to understand, but she doesn't geeeet it." He says. "But itdoesn matter." He moves closer. I can smell the alcohol and puke and alcohol-puke on his breath. Gale licks his lips. "Becausss I have you." Gale kind of falls forward and his mouth smashes into mine. It hurts, I can feel my teeth pressing into his lips. He kind of sways back and forth swirling his mouth on mine. Gale is so much bigger than me and he's practically deadweight on me right now. Trying to push him off is useless. I'm trapped between him and the wall. I can't breath and I can taste everything on his mouth. Smoke, vomit, booze.

"Gale." I moan when his mouth reclines for a moment. He goes right back at it grabbing my hands that try to push him off me. Gale's tongue pries my mouth open and then it's inside of it. I've never been French kissed and it's everything I was scared of. His tongue is warm and slimy, I bite it accidentally and he laughs into my open mouth, hot breath hitting the back of my throat. I try forcing him off me, but it's like a China doll fighting a giant. Gale's tongue touches mine, trying to get me to join in but I try forcing his out of my mouth. I manage to before he gets my mouth open and we repeat the process I've and over while he kisses me. Gale's hands force mine inside of his shirt and he presses my clenched fists flat and places my palms on his chest. This might count as seduction or rape, but God is he toned. When he lets go of my hands I pull them out from under his shirt, feeling everything as I drag them down his chest, and try pushing him off me. I step on his foot but Gale must be made of steel. He just groans into my mouth. I keep trying to fight him off. I would scream but that would waste what little breath I can salvage between each assault on my mouth. Gale's hands hold my neck to stop my attempts at turning my face away from him. After a few moments they move down to my shoulders and then to my breasts. He doesn't really grope, his hands just stay at the sides and he runs his thumb over a few times before sliding down to my waist. Gale grips my hips and pulls me into what I identify as an erection. I whimper, I'm not sure why. It hurts a little and I think he's going to leave bruises on my sides. When I gasp I make strange noises that Gale receives as moans. His hands move around to my ass and he gropes. Nobody has touched me in any of these places like this. I've had boyfriends slap my ass before or make it to second base (through my bra, not direct contact) but nothing with this much passion. Gale reaches under my ass, grabbing around my thigh trying to pull me up onto him. When I refuse he pushes me into the wall and lifts me up. He stumbles and we both fall to the floor. I fall on him and try to get up. Even when he's drunk, Gale's reflexes are quicker than mine. He grabs my waist and pushes me against the wall taking advantage of my jaw dropped in shock. You'd think he's trying to swallow my mouth the way he kisses me. Gale grabs my legs and forces one on either side of him while I sit on his lap. When an orgasm presses into a boner, it makes things wild. I feel electricity everywhere and my skin tingles. For a few moments I give in. I kiss him back once or twice and I run my hands through his hair. This makes Gale press harder and kiss longer. I attempt pushing him off again and I force his tongue out of my mouth with my own. We go back and forth and I can feel bruises forming on my wrists as Gale restrains them against the wall.

"God you're amazing." He breaths into my mouth. I feel like I'm suffocating. I keep gasping and they sound like whimpers.

"I-I-I can't..." I begin.

"You're mine." He protests. It's the sexiest thing anyone's ever said to me. Shit, it's the sexiest thing I've ever heard.

"I can't. Breathe." I manage. Gale pulls off of me immediately when I say this. He studies me as I breathe heavily, I can feel my chest heaving up and down as I attempt to get my lungs working. Gale goes for my neck. Kissing slowly, long and seductive. That was the climax, now he's going to make the fall as long as possible. There's absolute silence aside from my breathing and the sound of Gale kissing my neck repeatedly. I feel the skin of his own neck and the fabric of his shirt against my breasts, I begin to regret not changing out of the v-neck dress because I know where Gale's mouth is headed next. His warm, wet, talented, perfect mouth. He stays on my neck though. Oh my God, if I have to show up to brunch tomorrow with a hickey on my neck...

"St-st-stop. Stop." I wheeze. Gale moves to my breasts. Right between them in the cleavage-zone where the neckline ends. I feel the jolt in my crotch again and my skin feels like skin. My mind is racing. Oh my God he has a girlfriend. I can hear the sounds of his mouth on me and I press my hands into his chest weakly, not even trying to get him off anymore. Gale stops and looks at me. He holds my face and runs his thumb over my cheek and across my lower lip.

"You. Have no idea. How long. I waited. To do that." He heaves.

"Believe me, I enjoyed that." I sigh. Gale goes for my neck again. "You're still dating her though. You're cheating on her with me." Gale stops and looks at me again.

"They always say the mistress is sexier." He practically growls. I stop him before he goes at it again.

"God I want this." I breathe. "I haven't made out with anyone in awhile and damn you're a good kisser." Gale goes for my mouth, slowly and softly. Barely pressing his lips on mine to make contact. This is different from before. He's trying to make me want to stay rather than force me to. "God..." I mumble. "I am going to hell for this."

"No youarnt." Gale whispers. "Becausss you're my angel." I exhale, shivering as his mouth moves down to my neck again. "Please? I'm dumping her tomorrow."

"I can't-" I whimper. Now that I can breathe I can feel water swelling up in my eyes. Am I crying? Is he really that good that either the joy or the idea of losing him makes me cry?

"No. I want you." He growls. I think he can sense that scares me. Gale pulls back from the wall holding my legs straddled on either side of him. He leans back against the floor taking me with him. Gale takes my hair and pulls it all to one side. "Please understand," He says softly. "how much I want you."

"I can't." I say. "You're drunk and I'm four years younger than you."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything Cartwright?" Gale asks almost laughing. He thinks this is funny. I'm on the verge of tears and he's laughing. I don't care if he's drunk, it hurts my feelings. "Kiss me and tell me you don't feel anything." Gale dares.

"Why can't you be this romantic when you're sober?" I ask. He doesn't listen, he grabs my neck and pulls my face to his. I close my eyes and cut off the rest of the space. This is how I kiss someone I want. This is how I wanted our first kiss to be. This how Peeta will kiss Katniss on their wedding day, possibly on their wedding night. Gale smiles.

"See, that's wasn't so bad was it?" He whispers. I blush and turn my face away from his.

"No." I admit. I stretch my legs out behind me to lay rather than sit on top of him. Gale smiles again and kisses me. It's slower and sweeter than anything else we've done tonight. Then I feel it. The zipper of my dress going down slowly as my back becomes exposed. Oh shit am I even wearing a bra? I can't remember if this dress has one built in or not. I get off of Gale and stumble to my feet zipping my dress back up. He gets to his feet and looks at me curiously.

"Why the sudden stop?" He asks. He keeps switching between sober and drunk, it's driving me insane.

"I don't like that." I snap.

"Is it because we were on the floor?" Gale asks.

"Part of it." I admit. He leans against a wall.

"Should we take it to a bedroom?"

"No."

"The couch?"

"I am not going to have sex with you. Not while you're drunk. Not while you're still dating Madge."

"Uggggh." Even when he makes that noise he's sexy. He flops onto the couch. "This isn't fair."

"That you can lead me on, date another girl, and now you want me to hop on your dick?" I snap.

"That I haveto see somethin I can't have." Gale says. That catches me off-guard. I cross my arms and he moans loudly like he's being tortured.

"What?!" I shout.

"Dothemath." He replies. "Low cut dress, folding yourarms..." I uncross my arms and sit on the couch next to him and place my head in my hands. "Leaning forward in thadress isngoodeither." I snap back into good posture.

"It cannot be that distracting." I state.

"Imsorry." Gale says. "You just have reallygreatbreasts." I scoff. "Beautiful cleavage. AndI'maleg guy. So that's sayingsomething." I cross my legs awkwardly. How does a person respond?

"Would you like it if I changed?"

"What woul I like or whaa would makeit easier for me tofocus?" I think about it. Give the drunk man what he wants or no?

"What would you like?"

"I would lovit if you weren wearing anything."

"Where did this guy come from?"

"Imdrunk."

"That's not an excuse. You're carrying a conversation with me just fine."

"Yeah. I can control someofit. But notallofit. My mind can think but I have no filter."

"Okay..." I get what he's saying. "But does it really need to be you objectifying my body parts?"

"Just yourrack." Gale says. "Unless youwan me to talkabout yourrass."

"I'm good." I say. "And don't refer to it as 'my rack' that is so sexist."

"Sorry, theyrrreally soft." I can feel the heat in my face. Gale notices. "Sorry."

"It's fine." I sigh. He leans over and kisses me again. There's really no point in stopping him so I go along with it. It doesn't really matter anymore. He might not even remember it. Gale rises onto his knees and pulls my neck up with him. I have to do the same to stay level. He grabs my shoulders and then my arms forcing them around his neck. Gale's hands reach for the back of my dress and he pulls the zipper down fast. I reach for his hands in attempt to make him stop. I try zipping my dress back up but he's already pulling down at the sides and my shoulders are bare, then the dress is at my ankles and Gale flings it to the side without care. It turns out I am wearing a bra, it's strapless, but it's better than nothing. I reach helplessly for my dress but Gale grabs my wrists.

"Yourrrsobeautiful." He slurs. It makes me feel something inside and my girl hormones go wild.

"No. Sex." I gasp. Gale attempts to devour my lower lip.

"Okay." He says forcing my mouth open. Tongue, hot breath, the bitter taste. Didn't we do this like ten minutes ago? It seems foreign and new now that I'm half naked. Today was one of those days when I threw on a black bra and dark green underwear thinking, "Who cares if they don't match? They never do anyways." Regret regret regret. Gale starts at my hips and works his way up this time. Fingers tracing over my sides and rib cage. His hands linger on my bra, the lace patterns pressing into his palms as he glides his thumb over my skin where the bra ends and my breasts are restrained tightly against the fabric. He wants to go to second base. We're at first already how far does he want to go tonight? Home run you idiot. He made that clear awhile ago. Gale's hands snake up to my collarbone and then my neck, his fingers tangled in my hair. All the while I keep my hands locked around his neck I slide one hand under his collar and he hovers closer over me; the fabric of his shirt brushing against my stomach. The hours at the gym paid off, even if my stomach has no curve, it's flat at least. Gale reaches for the clasp on my bra fumbling with it.

"Not fair." I wheeze.

"What?" He asks smiling.

"You're fully clothed and I could be in a catalogue that boys masturbate to." I know what he's going to do and my hands beat his to the hem of his shirt. We both pull up and he tosses it over my head. Gale presses his forehead to mine. There's a thin coat of sweat everywhere on him, it makes him smell more like himself. Gale lies on me, skin to skin, nothing but silk and lace separating our chests. He arches his back up so he doesn't crush me.

"Better?" He asks taking my hand and placing it on the center of his chest.

"Better." I gasp before kissing him slowly. "But not quite." I murmur reaching for his pants and pushing them down. Gale moves backward putting me on top. My feet push down and he kicks his pants off. Now I wish his boxers weren't so damn baggy. "Now we're even." I say smirking.

"GodIwantyou." He says in one breath. I feel his boner in my pelvis and I'm sure he feels my breasts pressing into his chest. Gale kisses me in the cleavage zone again, his hot breath making me feel cold everywhere else. I tangle my legs in his. His hands rest on the small of my back. I move myself back down and his lower lip traces a straight line from my chest to my lips. I just keep my mouth there for awhile. Gale kisses me one last time and then I pull away. I place my head on his chest and my hand on his shoulder. I stare at his skin, the olive color marking him forever as a Seamster. The way it contrasts with my alabaster hand, my wrist with just a faint hint of purple from Gale's tight grip earlier. The love affair between a Capitol and Townie, not huge news. A Capitol and a Seamster, not that big of a deal since Capitol girls are constantly falling for Seamster guys. But a Townie and a Seamster, unheard of. The hatred between the two groups can be settled once in awhile and few people have crossed that dating border while they are still in high school. After that it's not as big of a deal, but still shocking. A Seamster just cheated on his Capitol girlfriend with me, and I'm still in high school not to mention a Townie. This is a full-blown scandal that might live with me as a label of anyone were to find out. It makes me think of Romeo and Juliet. Gale and I haven't known each other that long an we have the same four year age-difference. Only I don't think either of us will kill ourselves anytime soon.

"I can hear your heart beating." I say because it seems like the only appropriate thing to say.

"That must be nice." Gale says barely slurring. I can feel him brushing my hair off my shoulders. He traces patterns on my back, they feel like circles. I sigh with my mouth closed and it sounds like a hum. "You're tired."

"It's past midnight." I say glancing at the clock. Have we really been going at this for two hours?

"I've stayed up lay-err." Gale says.

"You're a soldier. Of course you have." I say yawning. "And incase you didn't notice we just had an almost-sex session for about two hours."

"I know." He says. "It was fuckingfantastic. But a workout."

"So I have a right to be tired." I sigh. Gale wraps his arms around me. My legs curl up in attempt to stay warm.

"You cold?" He asks. I shake my head. "Sleep."

Sunlight shines through the white drapes pulled shut. The house is warm. I look around. He's gone. Gale's gone. I sit up and look at the floor, his pants are still there as well as his shirt. My dress is thrown off to the side someplace. I pick up the black shirt and pull it over head so I don't feel so naked. I run into the laundry room and his clothes are gone. I run into the kitchen to find his morphine needles missing.

"Nonononono." I mumble running to the window. His truck isn't in the driveway. "Goddammit!" I scream. I curse obscenities under my breath thinking about how I almost became a one night stand. Who am I kidding? I might not have given him my virginity but he got pretty damn close. I think about all the mean names people have called Glimmer. Hump and dump. Hit and run. Whore. Hooker. God I am such a slut. Gale Hawthorne cheated on his girlfriend with me. I thought he genuinely liked me and now he's gone. How can a guy be such a dick? He was drunk you idiot. He probably ran off last night after he realized he got it on with you. I pick my dress up off the floor. I'm never talking to him again. After everything I've done for him... I need to change. I have guests in two hours.


	20. Chapter 20 Confession

**Yay! I have returned from a distant land known as New York. The city was beautiful and I had the time of my life. I finally got to see Wicked after three long years of waiting (that was when I first heard about the show) and Lindsay Mendez blew me away.(#Klendez) Any other fans in the house? No... just me? Okay then. I'll dive right into something I know everyone here is a fan of, Gally.**

* * *

_I'll find strength in pain,_

_I will change my name_

_I'll know my name as it's called again_

Mumford and Sons, The Cave

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Chapter 20- Confession

**Delly**

I stand looking in the mirror for what feels like eternity. I've been dreading this moment since I woke up. Peeta's car pulled in the driveway moments ago and any second now he'll come in and start setting up. I'll come down the stairs which will stir the question, "Why are you here so early?" I promised Peeta I'd help him set up for brunch, but I set myself for a time one hour from now. After dressing in a high-low sundress (it now mocks me with its virginal white fabric) and pinning my hair up with a yellow flower I thought things over. Like how I'm supposed to tell my brother what happened last night. _"Oh, hey Peeta? Did you know that your fiancée was with Gale for a long time? Yeah, well his friend got shot the day you asked Katniss to marry you and now Gale's over her but I think he might be into me. Why do I think this you ask? Call me crazy, but last night I almost had sex with him on the couch and now he's ditched me so I don't know what the fuck to think."_ Yeah. That would be just peachy. I can hear the door open and I sigh before walking down the stairs. I know that Peeta cooked everything last night, all he has to do is heat the food up and make it look descent on the plates.

"Hi." I say with a small wave of my hand.

"Oh, hey." Peeta says looking away from the oven after preheating it. "You look nice."

"Thanks." I say softly.

"I thought you weren't going to come until later." He says.

"Yeah, I was um, here last night and I slept over." I explain. "I'll go get some more stuff from your car." I make up and excuse to leave. Within moments everything is warming up and my stomach is fluttering. Peeta sits at the table, I take the seat next to him and begin thinking.

"Do you want to tell me something?" He asks. Never in my whole life have I felt so sick, so guilty of a crime. And it's not like I can say I was the victim.

"Um, I uh, um." I stammer. "D-do you know, about Gale and Katniss? Their-"

"History together?" Peeta asks. He says it like it's nothing, and your fiancée having a history with the man your sister has essentially been living with for near three months is _not_ nothing. "Yeah, I know."

"Everything?" I ask. "You think you don't, but-"

"Delly, I know about the engagement happening right after a death." Peeta says cutting me off. "Hazelle told Katniss and Katniss told me." I am silent. "She wanted me to know everything. And she knew I close I was to you, so Katniss told me what you'd be dealing with."

"You knew the whole time?" I ask quietly. Peeta nods.

"So nothing you tell me will be horrible." He says. I take a deep, staggered breath.

"Last night I saw Gale walking out of a bar. He was really, _really_ drunk. I didn't wan't his family to see him like that so I brought him here to sober up." I begin. "I found drugs in his car and then I kind of lectured him. He told me he was thinking about breaking up with Madge." My voice begins to catch and I don't know how to phrase it. I don't want to say he kissed me, because it sounds cliché and cheesy. And he didn't kiss me, he kind of attacked me. But if I say that Peeta will freak out and call the cops before I can explain.

"Dells?" He asks.

"Remember, he was drunk. Like _ really_ drunk." I say. "Gale kind of fell on me and started making out with me. I was trapped between him and a wall. I couldn't move and I could breathe. I wanted to scream, but I was so out of breath. He fell and brought me down with him and he just wouldn't let go of me." I try thinking of how to explain the rest of it. That I kissed him, that we both stripped to near naked on the couch, that we almost had sex. It's almost like I can physically feel everything happening to me again, his hands on my waist, mouth on my neck, my head against the wall. But I shake it off.

"Did Gale rape you?" Peeta asks quickly.

"No! No, he would never-" But I can feel my throat closing up and I blink repeatedly because crying isn't an option. "I got him off me and I managed to keep Gale under control but then he came for me again, on the couch... But I didn't stop him. It was forced, but I didn't fight. I didn't go with it either, but I still let it happen. Um, then he took my dress off and he reached for my bra- but I stopped him, I was never naked, neither of us were. But it was just our underwear, and then I gave into it and we fell asleep on the couch. And this morning I woke up and he was gone and I just feel like a stupid girl standing at the slag heap waiting for the second date finding out that there _is_ no second date." Peeta hugs me before the tears come out and they hit the shoulder of his shirt just in time.

"It's okay." He says rubbing my back and shushing me.

"I'm just such an idiot." I sob. "I told myself I wouldn't be one of those girls, now I _am_ one of those girls and I'm _reacting_ like one of those girls."

"Delly, breathe." Peeta says because I'm hyperventilating.

"The worst part is I still have to see him. I have to go back to the house to take my things and move back here. And he might be at the wedding tomorrow." I say.

"Look Dells, I'm not going to sugarcoat it, that's usually what you do anyways and you're my sister so I'll just say it; this sucks. It really does. Gale is an idiot, I'd call him an asshole or a dick, but both of those serve purposes." Peeta says. That makes me laugh at least. "I'll go to the house with you when you have to pack up. I'll be your bodyguard."

"Okay." I say after a moment. The doorbell rings. "Oh shit. Do I look like I've been crying?"

"A little bit." Peeta admits. He goes to the door and I pick up a flower vase. Katniss, Clara, and Prim enter smiling.

"Hi Peeta, Delly." Clara says. I smile setting the vase down. I fake a sneeze.

"Sorry, hi. Darn pollen kicks my allergies into gear, I need to find some Clartin." I say smoothly. Peeta gives an approving look that says, _Good lie._ My smirk replies, _I learned from the best._

* * *

**Fillers suck, I know. The next chapter will be a beautiful wedding. If only wedding planning were that easy. Reviews make Delly feel better, she still thinks she was a one night stand. :( Poor Delly, even if it was with someone as good-looking as Liam Hemsworth.**


	21. Chapter 21 A Wedding

**Updating is fun. I'm really hooked on Gally now, I'll be so sad when this ends. Side note: I'm writing a fic for the strangest crackship I could think of, Delly/Cato. * _* Yeah. I'll tell you when it's up. But let's have a wedding! YAAAAYY! FREAKING EXTRA-LONG CHAPTER!**

* * *

_Come up to meet you_

_Tell you I'm sorry_

_You don't know how lovely you are_

Coldplay, The Scientist

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Chapter 21- A Wedding

**Gale**

"Hold still." Mom's voice is the first thing I hear when I enter. I can see her in the living room fixing Vick's tie. Rory stands against the wall with an off-white shirt and his brown slacks. He's wearing suspenders and I might make fun of him, but he looks good. Like some kind of 1940s soldier, and I know later tonight he'll pop the first two buttons and roll up his sleeves to give him the same look as the soldiers in old photographs. While Vick looks uncomfortable, he looks good. Posy prances in with a fluffy white dress, the edges trimmed with green ribbon.

"How do I look Gale?" She asks running over to me. She's the first one to see I'm here, it makes me feel kind of better. I crouch down to her height.

"You look very nice Posy." I say sincerely.

"She's going to be the Flower Girl." Mom says glancing over.

"She is?" I ask. "But Posy hasn't been to any of the rehearsals."

"You show up and throw petals while walking." Rory says. "Even Posy has that kind of hand-eye coordination." Mom gives him a look and turns to me.

"It's about damn time you showed up. Where were you?" She asks. "The wedding is in half and hour, we've been waiting for you. It takes us 20 minutes to get into town, not mentioning traffic and finding somewhere to park."

"I was out." I say, and she gets the message. Mom's face crumples.

"Kids, get in the car." She says. They exit the room slowly and I know Rory will be listening through the door. "What happened? I don't want any bullshit from you."

"I got drunk." I say. "And I drove to a park and went hiking to sober up. Then it got late so I checked into a motel and now I'm here." I say.

"What happened between those points?" Mom asks. I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "Take off your damn sunglasses and tell me why Delly didn't come back at all during Katniss' bachelorette party and why she was in such a hurry to get out of here this morning. She's a good liar, but you aren't." I remove the sunglasses and look at her. "You think I don't know what's going on between you two? I can see things, even if I'm not around all the time. When she first came here everyone told me, 'don't bring a girl like that into your house, she's just going to want to date him, she won't care about helping him'. I told them they were all wrong, and they were for a while. But there's something else I told the wives and moms, I said, 'If Delly falls for my son, so be it. She is a lovely girl and cares about people. If anything, she deserves someone like Gale.' "

"You said that?" I ask.

"Now I'm not so sure." She says. "I don't know what you two did, but from the way you've treated her and yourself, I don't think you deserve her. In fact I _know_ Delly deserves better."

"That's nice Mom, really boosts my self-esteem." I retort.

"Gale Hawthorne, you-"

"I know what I do! You don't think I'm aware of the fact I get drunk all the time?" I shout. "I'm wide awake when it happens. But it's like I'm standing in a corner watching a video of a friend get drunk, and the camera's out of focus. It's not like watching me get drunk until the moment before the hangover kicks in. Because it's fuzzy and I can tell what's happening, I think to myself, 'Huh, this guy looks familiar.' Then at the last second I go, 'Oh shit, this bastard is me.' During hangovers I always replay the video with the camera shooting in HD and I hate the guy in the video. I hate me, don't you get it? I hate myself because I mess up. I mess up my life and my family. I thought I could do good fighting for my country but I fucked up that too, and I killed my best friend. I go around thinking that I ruin everyone, then I try to pop a few pills to end everything and when I wake up everyone around me comes to the rescue telling me how much they care and that I can't leave the world. So for a while I'm fine. But then someone like Delly comes into my life and I mess her up too. I get a near-perfect person and I break them. That's why Finnick doesn't like it when I'm around Annie, he's afraid I'll mess her up even more. We all know she went insane while he was gone. Finn and I are opposites, he infects people when he leaves and I screw everything I touch."

Mom doesn't say anything for a moment. I can hear Rory breathing against the door.

"Your uniform is on your bed. Please get ready quickly." She says finally.

"Are you serious?" I ask. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. After everything I said, you still want me to go to my ex-girlfriend's wedding? Where she's marrying the brother of my newest victim? Delly is going to be there, I really don't want to see her right now. I'll just make a scene and mess up everything."

"Did you rape her?" Mom asks shakily.

"Hell no." I say.

"I mean, date rape." She says.

"What part of 'hell no' don't you understand?" I snap. "She's still a pure white virginal angel holding onto her pretty little flower."

"Gale, please. Katniss wants you to be there, she called last night." Mom says.

"I'm not going." I say. She finally gives up.

"We'll be back by ten. Could you pick up Rory at least, he wants to stay the whole time and he just got his Learners' Permit." She says.

"Okay." I say blankly.

* * *

**Delly**

It sounds stupid, but we all act like we're in a wedding movie. Katniss stands in our guest bedroom in front of a full-length mirror while Prim, Leevy, and I fix her dress and fuss over her. We shower her with compliments and Katniss just offers a weak smile and nods. Madge enters the room, she and Katniss were always kind of close.

"Hi, wow Katniss you look great." She says. I never hated her, but I never liked her. Now I think I do. Maybe the fact that Madge is only wearing a touch of makeup and a simple baby-blue dress makes her seem like less of a goddess and more like a human to me.

"Thanks." She says. Clara comes out of the bathroom and smiles at her daughter. "So why are you here Madge? I thought you'd be downstairs."

"Gale and I broke up two days ago, I just saw his family and I didn't want it to get awkward." Madge says coolly. She reaches into her purse. "Plus, I wanted to give you this." She pulls out a little black box and opens it. There's a pin resting inside. It's a bird made of gold, with a few blue gemstones dotting the wings.

"Oh Madge, you can't-"

"No, it's a wedding present. Plus you need something blue." Madge says pinning it to the corner of Katniss' dress. "My aunt called it a 'mockingjay'. It's supposed to be a cross between a blue jay and a mockingbird I think."

"Thank-you." Katniss says hugging her.

"So you have mom's dress, that's something old. And the pin is blue. You borrowed Delly's shoes and the veil is something new. You're all good to go." Prim says. Cinna enters.

"It's time." He says winking a gold-lined eye. Katniss nods and smooths out her dress. I follow Madge and Leevy down the stairs.

"Madge," I say before she leaves. "I'm sorry about you and Gale ending."

"Delly, you know that _I'm_ the one who broke up with _him_ right?" She asks. I blink. "Yesterday he showed up at my house, I told him that I knew neither of us were into the dating part as much as the physical part anymore and that one of my ex-boyfriends came back into town and wanted me back. He nodded and it ended."

"You dumped him?" I ask. Madge nods.

"I could kind of tell he wasn't into me." She says. A tall blonde boy leads her out the French doors and Clara closes them on her way out. My mind is spinning. Prim hands me a bouquet of flowers.

"We're going to walk side by side since the aisle is big enough." She says. I'm suddenly very aware of the fact that my dress drapes down lower in the front than I wanted it to. I hold the flowers over my belly button, the petals touch bare skin. Prim smiles at me, I turn around and see Katniss at the top of the staircase. My worries melt away, it's her wedding, even if Gale is here it doesn't matter. My brother is getting married. I turn back to Prim and smile.

"Okay then, let's do this." I say.

"Alright I found her hiding in a closet." Haymitch says pulling Posy by the hand.

"Posy, why were you in a closet?" I ask.

"I was sad because Gale isn't here and I wanted to be alone." She says softly.

"Gale isn't here?" Katniss takes the words out of my mouth. "I called last night, I really wanted him to be here. He's my best friend."

"It's okay if he isn't here Posy." I say. "If Gale didn't want to be here, I'm sure he had a good reason."

"Delly's right Posy." Katniss says. "If he isn't here, I know he wants to be. Gale just gets weird sometimes. But maybe his cute little sister is good enough to replace him." Posy smiles and Clara hands her the basket.

"Hey," Cato peeks his head in through the curtains. Foxface is a lucky girl, I've never seen a Best Man look so good. "Do you want me to alert the musicians? We're all set out here."

"Tell them we're ready." Clara says. Cato smiles and nods.

"Hey babe, I'm loving the cut on your dress." He says with a wink. "Save a dance for me."

"You know I will." I say smirking. Cato runs off and I can hear the music start. Clara and Haymitch head out first, Prim and I count in our heads how long it will take for them to walk down and take their seat. We smile at each other and link arms.

"We're going to be sisters in twenty minutes." Prim says as we stand outside the curtain.

"Let's walk down the aisle." I say. We brush past the curtains and all eyes fall on us. We're smiling like crazy, we probably look like sisters. Step pause, step pause, step pause. I glance around. My mom smiles at me. She's sitting next to Effie of all people, but they're friends so I know why she's here. I stand opposite to Marvel and Prim stands across from Cato. Posy tosses rose petals like a boss and takes a seat next to Hazelle. Rory and Vick sit by her and I see Rory looking my direction, he smiles. Then his eyes sweep to the side as everyone rises. He mouths, "You look beautiful." I know that it's for Prim. She blushes and looks down. Rory rolls his eyes and smiles to himself. "Thank-you." She mouths back. The music changes and Katniss comes down the aisle with Cinna, she isn't smiling, but you know she's happy. Her eyes are wide and locked on Peeta, her gaze goes out to the audience. I follow it to Finnick and Annie, Hazelle and the Hawthornes, Clara, me, Prim, and then back to Peeta who's smiling at her. I glance at my brother and for a moment he smiles at me, then takes his bride's hands in his. Prim holds Katniss' flowers as well as her own. The ceremony is short and sweet. The vows make me cry and Prim and I share a small tissue. I'm thankful we chose waterproof mascara. People mingle as they find their way to the second tent set up for the reception. I take my seat at the head table next to Peeta. I hug him and my new sisters over and over. Haymitch waters his champagne down and gives me a look when I smile at him.

"Alright Blondie, that dumb class did work." He says. "I hope someday you can work things out with your dad." Haymitch sounds like he really means it.

"Thanks, I'm happy that you're drinking less." I say.

"Me too. Hangovers are a bitch." He laughs. "Even if I'm not getting drunk, other people will be. Just a fair warning to you and your dress." _So much for worrying about not looking feminine. _

"Hey, are you single?" I ask. He looks at me.

"I'm a little old for you sweetheart."

"No, there's someone here." I say. "I hate to set you up on a blind date, but do you see that pretty blonde woman over there? She's wearing the pink dress."

"I can try to talk to her." Haymitch mumbles getting up to sit by Effie. Then the speeches begin.

"I figured as Katniss' mom I might want to get the ball rolling." Clara says. "Katniss has always been a tough girl. There was a rough patch in our life when her father, my husband, died. I went into shock and Katniss took care of Prim. It was a dark time and I regret it deeply, that I let something like that take me. But what I guess I'm trying to say is that her whole life, she's been a fighter. Never a lover. Until now, I'm happy to call Peeta Mellark my son-in-law. After all that time she took care of us, I don't know a better person to take care of my daughter after all that time that she took care of us." Clapping. There are pauses between each speech. People mingle and eat and drink. Clove wave to me from the table she sits at with our old high school crew. Glimmer already has someone's number before they make the second speech.

"For those of you who don't know us, we were friends with both Peeta and his sister Delly during high school." Marvel speaks for everyone. "Cato here, is the Best Man in fact, so we're more than just high school friends. In freshman year, and all our high school years, we worked on stage crew for the drama department. But freshman year's musical was Les Miz. The role of Fantine was played by none other than Katniss Everdeen. She had one of the most important songs to sing in the musical, _I Dreamed A Dream_. Now, we all knew she had to be pretty good if in her first audition, she could get the most moving lead. So the director worked with her privately because of stage fright. The first time any of us got to hear her sing was during the first dress rehearsal. Peeta and I were offstage with our headsets on, ready to move the next set into place when we got the cue from the lighting crew after the blackout. I was into my stage crew part, with the headset and all black on, you kind of do." There's a soft laugh as Marvel pauses. "But right before Katniss broke into tears Peeta grabbed my arm and said, 'Watch. When she sings, even the birds would fall silent if they listened.' I figured it was my romantic best friend being dramatic since were in the theatre and the girl he'd loved since kindergarten was onstage singing. But I did listen, and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. I'm not quite sure if there's a point or moral to this story, but Katniss Everdeen, you married someone who is completely in love with you. Congratulations to the happy couple." Everyone raises their glass. The whole group takes their time to talk to Peeta and then make it back to their table.

There are several more speeches. Hazelle talks about seeing Katniss grow up and Rory, Vick, and Posy make a few comments. My dad talks about how worried he was for Peeta, and in the end he had the world's most romantic son. My mother talks about how nervous she was when she married Christian because I was so shy and he had children, then tears up over the how close Peeta and I got. Later Jonathan reads a letter from Asher who couldn't fly out from France in time and gives his own short speech. As the Best Man Cato gives his own speech about Peeta and that he'd better watch out, because we know who I'll marry if I catch the bouquet. Leevy and Madge team up gushing about how gorgeous Katniss is and end their speech with, "She's a tomboy. We had to embarrass her." But I think everyone is waiting for Prim and I to give our speeches so Prim goes first.

"Being the younger sister in any family can be fun, and it can be awful." She begins. "Katniss and I were very close. So close, that I saw all the good and all the bad. Now, I have waited a long time to get back at her for the pranks she pulled. So since this is her wedding and we're all telling stories, it's time to get even." Everyone laughs and Katniss covers her face with her hand. "As much as I would love to do that, I think Leevy and Madge already take the cake. So I'm going to a different approach. My sister, is the most important person to me in the world. I love her more than anyone else. Or so I used to think. I'd known Peeta; he was the same year as my sister, he was an artist, popular, wrestling team, funny, and not bad looking." She winks at him and I think Cato whistles. "But I never thought about him as a person. I just saw his dimensions. The third dimension was added when my sister called me at one in the morning in early September. 'I met someone!' She said. And I knew he had to be something else, because my sister never called at one in the morning and never got excited over a guy. 'We just went out and we had so much fun and lost track of time. Prim, all we did was talk but he knows how to talk to people. I really like him and I think he likes me.' So I asked her what his name was. 'Peeta Mellark. He went to the same high school as me, he was one of the popular kids. But not like a mean popular kid, he always hung out with his sister, the really short blonde girl.'- Sorry Delly." I laugh, 5' 6" is fine by me. But I was even shorter back then. "I never thought that my sister would go for someone like him though. But then I met him, and I knew that my sister had someone special. I'm so happy for you both. I love you Katniss."

"I love you too Prim." Katniss says while everyone claps. They hug and Peeta and I make a big show of shouting, "AWWW!" Then I stand up to give my speech.

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Delly Cartwright. The short blonde sister who's going to try to catch the bouquet." I begin.

"I'll tie you down." Peeta says smiling and everyone laughs.

"Sister of the groom and now sister of the bride." I say. "Everyone here has talked about how Peeta was a born romantic and how Katniss is the personification of strong. But now that they're together, I think that they will both be more vulnerable. Because, well- that's what love is. It's letting someone see all of you. From a young age we're taught not to show our darker sides, that it's unattractive. I think just the opposite is true. When you open up to someone, that shows them that you have trust in them. You're saying, 'Here, I love you. This side of me might not be your favorite side, but it's part of me. If you can't love it then you aren't in love with me.' And we will fall, but after we fall, we stand. It hurts- we all know that it hurts- but it's the best way to figure things out. I've seen the good sides of my brother, the sad sides, and he's shown me the dark side of himself. But it doesn't make me love him any less. Katniss, you are lucky. You have found someone who will love you to then ends of the Earth. You two will open up for each other, you're going to feel pain, but when you fall it will be into each others' arms. Loving someone is a hard thing to do. You have to love them _because _of your differences and their problems, not despite them. But seeing you two here together puts out any doubt in my mind that you weren't doing that from the start. Peeta, my older, not always- but most of the time- wiser brother. I'm so happy for you and your wife, and I love you." He gets up to hug me as Prim screams,

"THAT'S SO CUTE!" When I sit back down Peeta makes the final speech. He talks about how I stole his thunder, talking about love and all. But then he talks about how nervous he was, and that it turned out the whole time Katniss was nervous too. He talks about how it might be different and difficult to be married in college but that they're happy they did it anyways. He confesses any love he didn't already and tells her that he knows she's not the type to give speeches or say those things back but that he knows she loves him and they seal the night with a kiss.

The tent that was used for the wedding is open again. The chairs have been cleared and the sound system is set up in the corner. The bride and groom take the first dance to the song "Lover is Childlike" by The Low Anthem. The father-daughter, mother-son dance is second. Katniss dances with Cinna, Haymitch, and Christian. Peeta dances with our mom and Clara. A third dance is added, the siblings dance. I dance with Peeta, then Katniss. After that the fun starts. I dance with Prim, Rory, Vick, Posy, Peeta, Rue, Thresh, and yes, when the first slow song comes on Cato and I dance together, and halfway through Foxface cuts in. I see Prim and Rory dancing together. I see Leevy standing against one of the tent posts talking to Gale. Wait, talking to Gale? Katniss runs over and I pick up the words, "Sorry, had to, and happy". He looks good in his suit. Given that Finnick is wearing the same suit and I saw him a few minutes ago, Gale still looks handsome. A second slow song starts playing. It's very beautiful, the lyrics are kind of sad for a wedding, but beautiful nonetheless. All the couples make their way to the dance floor. Clove and Marvel, Peeta and Katniss, Cato and Foxface, Haymitch and Effie.

_"You say your time has come_  
_You're tired of waking up_  
_I start to cry_  
_You kiss my eyes and say I'm not allowed to_

_You say you drag me down_  
_No one should want you now_  
_Don't be obscene_  
_I can't conceive of living without you_

_Burning beacon in the night_  
_Can't feel its heat or see its light_  
_That single solitary guide it must get lonely there sometimes..."_

"Prim and Rory look great together." I don't jump because I knew this would happen.

"Yeah. They really do." I reply. "I can't believe you showed up at a wedding to talk to your one night stand."

"Is that what you think you are?" He asks. I refuse to look him in the eye.

"No, I'm not even worth your time to be a one night stand." I say. "So I don't know what I am."

"You're someone who made an amazing speech, looks perfect in her dress, and deserves an apology." Gale says. "I'm sorry."

"Wow." I say. "That didn't make anything better."

"Look, what I did was an asshole move. And, I'm sorry. This is going to sound so stupid, but I didn't think what we did would hurt you. What _I_ did."

"That's a load of bullshit and you know it." I snap.

"We're at a wedding." Gale whispers. I sigh. "See? I'm smart; I knew you wouldn't make a scene here, so you'd have to listen to me."

"Cut to the chase Hawthorne, my patience is wearing thin." I say.

"I like you. Like, a lot." He says. "I think you're smart, I think you're really beautiful and you can make me laugh, and you're kind of dorky... And most guys would have a problem with that, but I don't. Like in your speech, you said that you have to love someone _because of_ not _despite_. I love you because of your dorkiness, not despite it. You're different, and you depend on other people, and I want to be one of those people. I want to be _the person_." I think my heart stops momentarily. I have to look at Gale to make sure he's real and he's not joking. And then the words shoot out of my mind and get trapped in my chest. Then they fly into my throat and get stuck there. So I'm staring at his grey, grey eyes and my mouth opens but nothing comes out. The words in my throat are blocking the air and I feel light-headed. All the champagne sips I took earlier catch up with me and I can feel all the dancing I did in my legs- either that or my knees are buckling- and he's waiting for my response but I just keep staring and blinking at him.

"Y-y-you u-u-u-used the L-word." I say finally, which isn't at all what I wanted to say. I wanted to lecture him about how he can't just lead me on, give me what I want and then leave, then come back again expecting me to fall into his arms. I want to tell him I'm not a slag heap girl, that I wasn't on the list for a reason, that I'm not his yo-yo that he can just bring close then push away and bring close and push away. That if he really cares about me then why the fuck didn't he stay the night and tell me this on that morning? For one thing it would've been a helluva lot more romantic.

"I guess I did." Gale says.

"You can't just show up here an expect me t-"

"Delly Cartwright, won't you dance with me?" He says smiling grabbing my hand, forcing me onto the parquet dance floor. I can feel Madge looking over her boyfriend's shoulder to peek at us and I know Leevy must be peering over here. I catch of glimpse of my group standing together and I avoid Rue's gaze. I glance down and take a slight step back from Gale. He forces me closer, moving his hand from my shoulder to the small of my back. "Smile, we're supposed to be having a good time."

"Gale, don't- do this to me." I say. "Don't, force me into stuff like this and expect me to go with it. You have this perfect idea that I'm going to react the same way and kiss you in front of everyone and say 'I love you too' but I'm not going to do that. You had this whole summer to make a move without an excuse. But you treated me like a kid and went for someone else. You had to get drunk to finally show interest in me and your girlfriend dumped you so now I'm your rebound? No. I waited for you this whole summer, I was waiting for a long time and not that long ago I decided to give up. I figured it out and I stopped trying. And of course _that's_ the time you notice me." I look up and him and I hate me being 5' 6" and I hate him for being 6' whatever. "So just stop right now because then you're going to feel like me- and while I'm not your biggest fan- I don't want you to feel the way I felt." He looks away pulls me into him and my cheek rests against his suit. I'm staring at the medals pinned to his chest.

"So that's it then?" Gale asks. "You're just not going to give me any chance at all?"

"No." I say.

"Well that's kind of funny." He says. "Because the 'perfect idea' I had didn't involve you kissing me in front of everyone and saying that you love me. You came up with that on your own." I could slap him again I'm so angry.

"That... That doesn't mean anything. I-" Gale lets go of my other hand and we uncomfortably shift into the I-put-my-arms-around-his-neck-he-puts-his-arms-aro und-my-waist position. He leans down low enough for me to hiss into his ear, "I hate you Gale Jacob Hawthorne." In one swift move he brushes his cheek against mine and whispers into my other ear,

"And I love you Delilah Lilly Cartwright." I want to cry and scream and throw up all at once. He repulses me and turns me on and makes me want to slap him. "And you can't tell me that you don't enjoy this, or feel anything. If you do, then you're fooling yourself because if you _really_ waited this whole summer, then at least one piece of you is happy right now." He's right and I hate him and love him for being right. "Just give into it. You've been through a lot and I've been through a lot. So if you don't owe it to me you owe it to yourself."

"I don't owe anything. What I went through was nothing, so many people have had it worse." I say. Gale grabs my neck with his fingertips forcefully, cradling my jaw with his thumb and I feel his mouth on mine for a second. I could've kissed his hand and I wouldn't know the difference. Hell, I could've been kissing a really warm, really soft piece of fabric and I might not have known the difference if I closed my eyes.

"Now you don't owe anything." He says resting his chin on my head. My hatred for him and the euphoria of finally having a sober kiss with him cancel each other out and I'm numb. "Can we be alone?"

"I can arrange that." I say pulling him by the wrist and leading him off the dance floor. I pass Rue who gives me a desperate look. I bite my lip and shrug. I pull him past the other tent where the reception was and past the pool and- God has my backyard always been this big? There's enough moonlight for me to see his face. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Us. Is it going to happen?" Should've seen that coming.

"Gale, you don't know me. It's barely been three months and you're saying you love me." I say. "Do you know what love is?" I motion over to the reception. "That. That is love. They've devoted the rest of their lives to each other. Would you be willing to do that for me?" He doesn't answer. "You know so little about me. If I didn't live with you this summer I would've been re-reading John Green books. I would've started planning my Harry Potter Party and maybe began sewing my costume. Because that's what I like to do. I might've done some of the volunteer work at the library, or maybe after Clove's play Rue and I would've done community service. I could've started working on chorography for the next flashmob. I might've gone to the Humane Society and worked there for a week or two. I don't know and neither do you because you don't know me that well."

"So that's your excuse?" Gale asks.

"I can't date you anyways. You've broken the law already by kissing me." I say.

"What?" He asks confused.

"The law is that there is no sexual activity or 'sensual encounters'. So no making out, and no groping. Both of which you did when you got drunk."

"Once again, sorry about that." Gale says. "But you looked so goddamn sexy in that dress."

"Stop." I say putting up my hand. "I don't want to do this. I don't want some dramatic love story in my life and right now I don't even think I want a boyfriend."

"Delly, please-"

"Stop! I don't want this. I'm going to be a senior this year and you're a _really_ good looking single guy. We'll manage." I head back to the party.

I'm just in time to watch Cato catch Katniss' garter. He runs over to me and picks me up, spinning me around. Peeta rolls his eyes and Katniss gets ready to throw her bouquet. Prim and Rue stand on either side of me.

"Catch it for us babe!" Cato shouts. I jump into the air and my mom laughs. Katniss tosses the flowers over her head as I catch a glimpse of Gale leaning against one of the tent poles. I think he wants me to catch the damn roses just to prove some sort of point that fate wants us together. But the stems brush past my fingertips and the flowers fall into the surprised hands of Annie Cresta.


	22. Chapter 22 Leaving

**Double update because the last one was long and this one is short. But it's not a filler, it's just short. Review please, everyone knows how good it feels to get reviews. I love you all, and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

_Well your momma kept you_

_But your daddy left you_

_And I should've done you just the same_

The Black Keys, Lonely Boy

* * *

Chapter 22- Leaving 

**Gale**

"So you're not going to do anything?" Rory asks. His bedroom is right across from Delly's, or, the guest bedroom. I stare up at his ceiling and the glow-in-the-dark stars he's placed in different constellations that half the time I can't pronounce or spell. Rory's door is half open and Delly's door is slightly ajar. Her window is open and sunlight pours in from behind her. We keep seeing her for moments while she places something into her suitcases, then she'll disappear for a moment and then return.

"Yeah. I'm not doing anything." I say slowly. It took awhile, but I realized she really doesn't want us to be together.

"After everything that happened between you two... You know mom wanted you to get a girlfriend this summer." Rory says. "I think she picked Delly on purpose."

"You don't say." I retort.

"You needed her." Rory says. "And I think she needed you too." I glance over into her room. Delly leans over to zip up the side of her suitcase, hair falls over her shoulder blocking out the light that made it impossible to see her before. She picks up the list of things she brought here and puts on her glasses to read it. As she reads over she mouths everything without making a sound.

"Okay." She says to herself taking off her glasses and placing them into her case. Delly disappears again.

"There's a thought." I say. Rory shrugs.

"You're just going to let her go. After everything." He sighs.

"She doesn't want me in her life." I say. "Delly has it set in her mind that I don't know anything about her and that this was just a summer fling."

"Fling?" Rory asks. I give him a look. "She's got a point though. I mean, what do you _really_ know about her?"

"Not much." I admit. "But I know enough." Delly materializes and walks past the door and into the bathroom. "I really messed this up."

"Yeah." Rory agrees. "You did." There's a long silence.

"Delly Cartwright was the best thing that ever happened to me." I announce.

"Oh God, now you just ruined everything." Rory says. "Now you sound like some lovesick idiot and this has become a Cheesefest."

"Sorry." I mumble.

"But you're right though." Rory says. "And you're still an idiot."

"Yeah." I say. Delly knocks on the door. I glance over at her. Delly holds the doorframe and looks down. She opens her mouth to speak several times but stops. She motions behind her a few times before finally saying,

"I'll be in the truck." Delly leaves.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Rory asks. I can hear her saying good-bye to Posy and Vick outside. "You can tell her that I want to practice driving and then you'll have to sit shotgun with me." I think about it.

"No, it's okay. I think I need to say good-bye to her alone anyways." I say.

"Alright." Rory says getting up. I can hear him talking to her in the other room and I wait a solid five minutes before finally getting up. I grab my keys and walk outside. Aviator lenses go on. She stares out the windshield, not even acknowledging that I exist. Then she stares out the window. I start the engine and it sounds like Christian Bale shouting Chinese in his Batman voice. I don't know if I'm seeing things but Delly bites her lip and brushes away a tear. My truck snaps out of it and purrs softly. I pull out of the driveway. Five minutes of silence. We come to a red light.

"You could've called your parents to pick you up." I say. She turns to look at me. "But you didn't."

"I don't like bothering people." Delly says.

"You're their teenage daughter. That's your job." I scoff.

"Fine." She says. Green light, I drive two miles below the speed limit. I slow down when there's a green light and wait for it to turn yellow, then red. "Gale!" Delly whines.

"I'm trying to talk to you. Is that such a crime?" I ask.

"Actually it is." Delly says. I could kill her right now if I didn't want to kiss her so badly. "If I date you, that will mean I am weak and spineless. After everything I did, to go back to you would be insanity."

"You'd be dating someone who is on antidepressants. Of course it would be insanity." I say. She sighs. I hit the gas and go twenty above the speed limit and Delly slams backwards into her seat.

"Make up your mind!" She shouts when we stop at yet another red light. I can smell the burning rubber.

"I did make up my mind. I want you." I say. _Did that cliché romantic bullshit really just come out of my mouth?_

"Too damn bad." Delly says, un-phased. We drive again. "I wanted you and I didn't get what I wanted."

"You're getting it right now!" I shout. I turn onto her street. "Please, I want us to figure this out. I am begging you, give me a chance." She doesn't say anything. I pull into her driveway. "Delly, please!" She holds my hand.

"I would love to, but I can't." She says getting out of her seat. I run around to the back as she reaches for her suitcases. I stop her.

"If you want to, then let yourself." I say. Delly shakes her head. "I've been through this once already, then twice, and now _you_?"

"The world is not a wish-granting factory." She says pulling her bags out and setting them on the floor.

"I wish it was." I say. Delly looks at me.

"You want me to date you, love you?" She asks shaking her head. "You said you heard my speech, you want me to be vulnerable with you? You think you can handle all of me? I don't even know what I want to do with my life and I'm a senior in high school!" Delly looks up at me again. "You can't even talk to me without your sunglasses on." I take them off immediately. "That doesn't count." She says wheeling her suitcases towards the front door.

"Then what does count? I'll do something, _anything_ to show you that I want this." I say. I'm sick with myself, I haven't plead like this since Katniss left for college and wanted to end things. Delly stops and throws her arms around my neck. It takes a moment for me to hug her back. I feel the tears hit my sleeve when she starts speaking.

"I had a really great time with you this summer." She says. "I learned a lot. I'm so happy I could make you feel better." She grips the fabric of my shirt in her hand and I hold her closer. Delly sniffs. "Thank-you for everything you did and I really hope you can figure things out. You were a really good friend." _Were a friend._ The word hurts like that damn bullet that hit me.

I kiss the top of her forehead and then she's gone.


	23. Chapter 23 High School

**We are coming close to the end of our journey. Such sadness is at hand, before we head down our separate roads. (That's not a quote or anything, I just came up with that.) But before the end, comes the first day of Delly's last year of high school. YAAAYY! This chapter's musical quote is a partner quote with the one from the last chapter, so you might want to recall or re-read that one.**

* * *

_But I came to love you_

The Black Keys, Lonely Boy

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Chapter 23- High School

**Delly**

The last few weeks of summer weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. I got a postcard from Peeta, all my friends left town, and Rue and I hung out a lot. We talked about the future, about life after high school which was coming too fast. On the bright side, my parents bought me a car. They wanted to wait until graduation but figured that with all my extra-curricular it would be easier if I had a car of my own. A yellow beetle, and it is adorable. Rue and I went shopping for back-to-school, because she'd grown three inches and I'd thinned out. We over-planned for the first day of school and changed our outfits seven times. I began working on choreography for the next flashmob and gave more thought to joining the dance team. No one ever brought up Gale. It made me miss him even more.

The skinny light-wash jeans I'd picked out weeks ago rested on my floor next to the cute green top I'd changed at the last minute yesterday. They fit nicely and I drove to Rue's house to pick her up. We were ten minutes early, like everyone else who hung out in the hallways before the bell rang and we could go to our lockers. We went though the day texting each other about nonsense. The teachers just went over names and rules, it wasn't like we missed anything important. Rue and I are walking back to my car, talking about the SATs when she nudges me to look up.

"You _have got_ to be kidding me." I say knowing it's him. "You can't take a hint, can you?" I walk over to Gale who has the world's most crooked grin on his face right now.

"On the contrary, I believe you are the one who can't take a hint." He says leaning back on a motorcycle.

"And of course, you have a motorcycle, of all the things in the world, a motorcycle." I shout.

"And you have a tiny yellow car. I'm not surprised either." Gale shoots back. "It's better than my other piece of crap. Besides, I'm handing that down to Rory."

"Why did you come here?" I ask.

"To talk to you. If I went to your house you would've locked the door." He says shrugging.

"Then talk." I say crossing my arms.

"Maybe I'm a jerk." Gale begins. "No, scratch that; I'm an asshole, Class-A dick."

"More like a Class-B." I interject.

"Do not interrupt me!" He shouts. "But I'm a dick. I've always been a player and I've always been a screw-up. But not when you're around. Sure, I mess up and say things I shouldn't, but it's not like anything I used to do."

"Such as...?"

"Getting drunk every night. Swearing at my family. Beating the shit out of random strangers. Trying to kill myself. Hooking up with random sluts because it makes me feel good." Gale says. "The list goes on. But you were different. You didn't try to get anything out of me. You just stood there and waited. I liked that about you."

"You did a great job of showing it." I say sarcastically.

"You know that day you got sick?" He asks. "I asked out Madge because I didn't want to get involved with you. I thought you deserved better. You're a senior now, and nobody wants to be that one girl who's dating a college guy nobody knows."

"What happened on that night? You wanted me to remember something." I say. Gale runs a hand through his hair.

"Um, I kind of fell for you that night. It was a series of events afterwards. But that was the first night I noticed it." He says. "Look, you have every right to reject me... and I know that. But I needed to tell you that I think I'm in love with you, not just that I love you- but that I'm _in_ love with you and I don't know how to hide it or make it stop so... It's your choice, I don't know what that means to you, but I want you to be happy."

"You think you're in love with me?" I repeat.

"Yeah." Gale says. "That night I got drunk and..." He pauses. "I hurt, the most undeserving person I know. You are the most amazing, beautiful person I know. And you know what? Screw everyone else. Screw those kids who teased you for being a Townie, for being fat. Screw your stupid ex-boyfriend who tried to change you and screw anyone who doesn't like you because I like you, I like you a lot Delly Cartwright."

"So that's your argument?" I ask.

"There's one more part." Gale says smirking. "Hey there Delilah!" He shouts off-key and not in the right timing at all. "You're like two feet away and girl, right now you look so pretty yes you do." I cover my face with my hand and Rue bursts into laughter.

"God, you had to sing that song!" I say. "That song has been sung to me about a hundred times, why did my parents have to name me Delilah?"

"Because," Gale says. "Times Square can't shine as bright as you! I swear it's truuue!" He shouts. I laugh again because I want to hate him and I want to love him and he's standing here serenading me in my high school parking lot with a song bearing my name and it's completely cheesy and corny and perfect.

"Stop singing and I'll go out with you." I say. He runs over and hugs me, picking off the ground and spinning me around and he kisses me for two seconds and Rue starts saying obscene things and I'm just laughing because this whole thing is so stupid and he said he loves me.


End file.
